Suits and Sinners
by Kagaminelover657
Summary: Lona Rivers and Clarence Kingsleigh; a grieving orphan and vengeful mother trapped in a copycat killing game. With new inhabitants and trials to face, a new promise is made in their shared goal for survival and the truth. Through their selfish alliance, these two sinners will discover their encounter was more than mere fate pulling strings... (Sequel to 'Angels of Death')
1. Chapter 1: The Ignored Prisoner

**A/N: This is my first time writing a story for the 'Angels of Death' section of the site, so I apologise if the first chapter comes off as a bit strange in some places. I would also like to add that I am currently experimenting with my writing style to see how well it works (which I am currently doing with a 'The Witch's House' fanfic of mine, too), so I also apologise if it looks too short and crappy. This fanfic is a little different to what most would have expected for a sequel to the original game, as it stems away from the main story and takes an original spin on things but is influenced by the original events of the game (a bit like Danganronpa's plot, if you want an example). I wanted to try exploring the idea of members of Gray's cult doing similar 'experiments' across other places with their own spin on things, to which have continued even with the downfall of Gray's. So, like I said before, although this fanfic will still follow similar elements used in the original story and 'killing game', I have tried to put original twists regarding the inhabitants, the floors, the rules of the 'game', the OCs' backstories, etc. So I do hope you give this fanfic a chance despite the odds.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own 'Angels of Death' or its characters; however, I do own the OCs used in this fanfic.**

 **WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE 'ANGELS OF DEATH' GAME, MANGA, AND ANIME ARE AHEAD. IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME OR READ THE MANGA UP UNTIL ITS CURRENT TRANSLATED POINT AT LEAST, I SUGGEST DOING SO BEFORE READING THIS FANFIC.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Ignored Prisoner

Walking through the cemetery during the early evening never failed to give me the respite I desired and needed. With my left hand dug into the pocket of my pink jacket and my right one clutching tightly onto the stems of a bouquet of yellow roses, my eyes glanced back and forth between rows of gravestones of varying colours, shapes, and sizes bathed in the orange-purple glow of the setting sun, their thin shadows stretching out across the dirt path my pink buckled boots trod upon. The area was silent, with the deceased buried six-feet under being the only company I had on my trek in locating the gravestone I was in search of. Visitors to the cemetery had long since gone home by the time I arrived, which is how I usually preferred it. I at least wanted some privacy with my affairs that I couldn't get when others were here.

A light breeze started to pick up as I began to approach the end of the rows on either side of me, blowing my pink knee-length skirt and the unzipped sides of my jacket back some. I was forced to take my left hand out of my pocket when my left side-fringe and flowing blonde were raised from my forehead, the sides of my face and my upper-back, with the former two moving in front of my face and prompting me to place my left arm just before my eyes so I could see where I was going without obstruction. Despite being an annoyance for me, however, the wind did breathe life into the trees scattered around the grassy landscape, causing the leaves to dance along the branches that arched over the gravestones.

By the time the breeze began to settle, I lowered my arm back to my side and focused my gaze on the right rows of gravestones, specifically the first grave on the second from last row. I came to a stop before the black marble headstone and crouched down before instead of kneeling to avoid dirtying my legs and white socks, resting my left arm across my knees. My eyes locked with the bold, gold writing imprinted into the marble, having me read the same words I'd see every single time I came here to visit;

 **In loving memory of William Rivers and Lucia Rivers, who died 17** **th** **January 2016, aged 42 and 40. 'May you rest peacefully in the arms of the Lord.'**

Every time I read those words I felt my stomach churn and slight nausea wash over me, prompting me to briefly close my eyes and take a deep breath in and out.

' _Be respectful. You might not agree with what uncle and auntie chose for the inscription, but it's for the two people you care about. It's worth putting up with.'_

I opened my eyes and leaned forward a little on my toes as I reached out the bouquet towards the bottom of the headstone, slowly placing it down on the ground just in front of it before retracting my arm and placing it across my knees with my other one.

"… Hello Mamma, Papa," I said, greeting the headstone in quiet tone as a small smile appeared on my face. "It's been a while, huh?"

I paused to allow the silence to briefly drag on in between me and the empty cemetery, my gaze once again locking with the yellow roses loosely tied together in the middle of their stems by a thin, yellow ribbon.

"I bought you your favourite flowers, Mamma. I hope you and Papa like them. I had to get you plastic ones, but at least this way they'll last forever. You don't have to worry about them wilting away."

My eyes drooped as I moved my arms so they were wrapped around my knees instead of resting across my lap, my gaze staring at the bare, grassy ground that surrounded the headstone.

"I'm sorry I never came to see you last week. Uncle wouldn't let me leave the house. He locked me in my room again and went somewhere with auntie. I don't know where they went, but they were gone for most of the day. I hope you can forgive me."

I paused as I felt another light breeze pick up the ends of my hair on its journey through the air, ruffling my clothes around a little and prompting me to tighten my grip around my knees. I knew they couldn't talk back to them, but I like to think that was a sign they were trying to offer me comfort from the grave.

Once the air began to settle, I briefly closed my eyes and let out a small sigh, opening them again and lifting my gaze to stare at the headstone in front of me once more.

"Papa, remember when you told me that we never spoke to uncle and auntie because you and Mamma thought they were acting strange ever since they chose to follow religion a little too closely? Well, I'm starting to see now why you chose to keep me away from them. They act differently around the neighbours or visitors, but with me they've gone out of their way to make me a prisoner in their own home. And it gets worse with each passing day. Auntie won't look at me or talk to me. She pretends I don't exist. And even though uncle acknowledges me, he always does so when I make a mistake. Or if he wants to criticise me for my eyes."

I loosened my arms' grip around my legs to raise one of my hands towards my face, placing my fingers on the skin just under my right eye.

"It's not like he's the first. People never look at me because I have red eyes. They always think they're unusual and bad. Uncle thinks they're especially unusual and bad because they remind him of 'the devil' and 'demons'…"

I curled my fingers towards my palm as I felt tears beginning to brim in the corners of my eyes, leaving me to gulp when I started to feel the inside of my throat drying up.

"It's not fair! You two were religious and never treated me this way! But uncle says it's okay for him to because he's only following the ways of his faith to 'purge' me!"

Moving my loose fist to rest against my chest at the dull ache that struck it, I felt the tears in my eyes loosen and start to trickle down my face, my head lowering as my shoulders trembled and my voice started to crack.

"It's only been a year, but I miss you so much. I wish you were still here with me and we were back home. I'm trying to be strong for you. I really am. But I hate being on my own. It's scary. I'd runaway if I could, but I have nowhere else to go, not even in our old house…"

Silence rang around the cemetery as I closed my eyes tight and prompted more tears to stream down my face, reaching up my other sleeve to my nose to give it a wipe after sniffling.

' _I made myself promise I wouldn't cry again. But it can't be helped. Coming here is the only form of release I have. It's not like auntie and uncle don't scold me whenever they hear me cry or get upset…'_

Taking a deep breath as a way of calming myself down, I moved my arm away from my nose and opened my eyes, keeping my gaze locked onto the ground out of shame to avoid looking at the grave.

"… I'm sorry. You must be so disappointed in me for giving up my faith. But it's not like anyone else is going to visit you. Uncle and auntie never cared about you, alive or dead. I'm trying to stomach this as best as I can, out of respect for you both."

Allowing the fist against my chest to drop into my lap, I dared to raise my gaze to the gravestone once more, my tears having ceased for the time being.

"I just wish I knew what happened to you that night. They still haven't found the ones responsible, and uncle and auntie aren't bothered if they do find the culprit or not. If only you could tell me… If only you could tell me what happened to you…"

I trailed off as the sound of a bell rang loudly around the area, my head turning in the direction of the church a good distance away from where I was crouched. The clock's golden hands and its roman numerals stood out boldly from the black clock face as the bell continued to ring, indicating it was now seven o'clock. With my eyes drooping in dismay, I turned to face the gravestone once more.

' _And thus the bell's toll signals the end to my temporary freedom…'_

Letting out a quiet sigh, I pushed myself to stand and dropped my hands back to my sides, my gaze remaining on the gravestone of my parents for a moment.

"… That's my cue to go," I mumbled, reaching up my arm to my eyes to give them a quick dab with my sleeve for any stray tears or tear stains lingering. "I'll come back to see you the usual time next week. So, until then…"

I paused to take a quick deep breath before turning to face the path of the cemetery, putting both of my hands behind my back in preparation to walk away.

"… just know that I love you, Mamma, Papa, and not a day goes by where you're not in my thoughts."

* * *

The cool early evening air and its accompanied orange-purple, cloudless sky had done little to ease my nerves as I made my walk from the cemetery and back towards the cottage that I was supposed to call 'my home'. Sticking to the grassy edges of the road that doubled as a pathway to be cautious of any cars driving by, I found my gaze wandering between the various cottages and cobbled walls that stretched in front of them. The area my uncle and auntie lived in had streets filled with houses separated by large trees and shrubbery due to being located out in the countryside, so the neighbours remained isolated from each other and given the privacy most would crave. Even so, each cottage I passed appeared warmer and more inviting than where I knew I was heading, and my chest ached with the urge to just turn around and run to one of them instead. But deep down I knew it was pointless.

I continued following the road in a straight line until I reached the last cottage on the right row with only countryside stretching past it, prompting me to come to a stop and turn my body slightly to face it. I glanced the two-floored cottage up and down, seeing the building bathed in a calming glow that made its white colouring and brown thatched roof look bright and loving. That was far from the truth, but it wasn't as if anyone who passed by would know that. It fooled oblivious people, and that's all it was supposed to do.

The moment I started walking forward onto the gravelled driveway leading towards the front door, I felt my body shaking with each step I took, with the dread I often had in the pit of my stomach returning the closer I got. I could see the faint lights inside the cottage through the two windows downstairs on either side of the front door, as well as my uncle's silver car parked off to the left of the cottage, indicating that uncle and auntie were probably sat around the dining room table listening to the radio. That did little to ease me, instead making my trembling worse as I paused before the door to the cottage. With my hands clenched into loose fists on either side of me, I closed my eyes and lowered my head a little as I took a deep breath in and out to try to ease my body's trembling. I _really_ didn't want to go in there. I never did.

' _There's no need to be scared. They don't usually pay much attention to you anyway unless necessary. If you're quiet enough, they won't even know you're there.'_

That reminder did little to reassure me, prompting my eyes to open and my gaze to lock with my boots. My hands uncurled and reached up to grip at the sides of my unzipped jacket covering my white t-shirt, pulling it further around my body to try to calm myself even if I wasn't cold. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong which would make them seriously angry with me, but I knew they wouldn't be happy with me for having left earlier today without telling them again.

' _Maybe I don't have to go in there. I could just turn around and run away. They would be none the wiser!'_ I paused to huff and shake my head soon after saying this, knowing just how stupid my idea sounded. _'Who am I kidding? I don't have a lot of belongings, but there are things in there that I'd want to take with me. And I don't have any money on me. If I tried to sneak around and prepare myself to run away, they'd catch on easily.'_

I dared to raise my gaze once more and stare at the plain brown door still closed in front of me, my eyes locking onto the long, silver handle glistening in the rays of the setting sun. The grip on my jacket tightened, but it quickly loosened when I scowled and raised my right hand.

'… _No more hesitating. The longer I wait, the worse it's going to get.'_

I slowly stretched my hand towards the door handle, watching it violently tremble all the while. But that didn't stop me from gripping it and pushing it down little by little to avoid making any loud noise. I knew that if I backed down now, I wouldn't go inside of my own will.

I flinched upon hearing the click once the handle had dropped all the way, but still pushed my force against the door to open it really slow. I took a step inside into the darkened room when the gap was large enough for me to slip through, hearing a deep and static like voice the moment I did so.

" _In other news, authorities in the US are investigating the possible involvement of an unidentified cult in a building fire that happened over a week ago. Reports state that around 12:03am on Saturday 18_ _th_ _January, police and firefighters were called to the area after witnesses reported seeing a building going up in flames with an injured girl and a suspicious-looking adult male lingering around outside."_

Using my left hand I pushed the door to after properly stepping inside and continued to listen to the newsman speaking on the radio, prompting me to twitch when I heard it click for a second time as it made contact with the doorframe.

" _The girl was identified as 13-year-old 'Rachel Gardner', who had previously vanished in connection with the Gardner Homicide case, and was taken to hospital and later placed into protective custody. The man, who was identified as 20-year-old serial killer 'Isaac Foster', was arrested and taken into police custody at the scene under charges of kidnapping Rachel Gardner, as well as the many murders police believe he has been linked to over recent years."_

Through the darkness I turned my gaze towards the left side of the cottage, where the faint light of a candle was placed in the middle of the rectangle dining room table. In the dim lighting I could make out the outlines of my uncle and auntie sat on either side of the table with the portable wooden radio in between them. Uncle - with his short, wavy black hair - had his arms folded across the table with his cold brown eyes locked onto the radio, whilst auntie – with her ear-length brunette hair – kept her dull blue eyes focused on the surface of the table, her hands clasped together on top of its surface. They appeared to be paying close attention to the news report over the radio, meaning there was a chance I could sneak on by without them realising I had entered.

I turned my gaze towards the stairs leading to the second floor just past the dining table from where it went along the left wall, prompting me to tip-toe one step at a time across the tiled floor when the reporter continued talking in the direction of the empty area behind where my uncle was sat. There was a wide, red and white circle-patterned rectangle-shaped rug under the dining table that covered part of the floor, so I knew I would be able to use it to muffle my footsteps as I made to sneak on by.

" _Recent police investigations into the remnants of the building have found the charred corpse of a man who authorities are unable to identify, as well as evidence to suggest the building's fire was caused by an explosion on its lowest floor which resulted in its collapse. Despite this hampering further progress into its investigation, police believe the building's owner 'Abraham Gray', who has been missing since allegations were made regarding his involvement with an unidentified cult, may be responsible for its collapse and suspicious activities that were suspected to be taking place inside. US authorities have urged the public to be on the lookout for this man and anyone who could be associated with him-"_

I found myself freezing in place in line with the back of my uncle's chair when he reached out a hand to switch the radio off, my eyes being quick to glance towards the long, purple sleeve of his shirt stretched in my view-line. I stayed still despite feeling my heart thudding hard against my ribcage, slowly reaching a hand up to my forehead at the sweat starting to gather across my brow. It didn't take a genius to know that the gig was up; he knew I was here.

"… Come here, Lona," My uncle said after a moment of silence had passed, his tone dangerously calm.

I took this moment to mentally prepare myself, taking a deep breath in and out to steady my nerves and putting on a straight face before turning and walking towards the left side of my uncle's chair. If there was one thing that terrified me the most about my uncle at times like this, it was the fact he _never_ raised his voice when he was angry with me. I didn't like how composed and collected he was whenever I did something wrong and he lectured me. It was like there was a hidden motive behind it.

My gaze briefly crossed with my auntie when I was stood beside my uncle's chair, who I noticed had chosen to keep her eyes on the table and not move from her current position. She was pretending I didn't exist again and making the effort to prevent us from making eye contact. At least her actions and behaviour weren't any different than the usual.

When I saw my uncle shift his body to face me out of the corner of my eye, I focused my gaze back towards him. He was a foot taller than me, so being sat down made it easier for him to speak to me close to eye level. The two of us were silent as we stared into each other's neutral gazes, neither of us giving away what the other was thinking. The longer we stared at each other the more uncomfortable I became, prompting me to stand up a little straighter and put my hands behind my back. I suspected he was taking a moment to scrutinise me appearance-wise.

"… Where have you been?" he eventually asked.

I was always tempted to lie, but even I knew my uncle could see through my mask no matter how hard I tried. He was an observant man.

"… The cemetery," I mumbled, prompting my uncle to raise his brows.

"What did you say?"

I knew he was asking the question as if to challenge me on my actions, but it didn't stop me from turning my head away slightly and repeating my answer in a quieter voice than before out of fear. I always struggled to talk properly in the presence of my uncle. My fear had a nasty hold over me.

"… The cemetery."

"Are you mumbling, Lona?"

I didn't answer, causing me to catch him scowling and placing his hands on the thighs of his black trousers out of the corner of my eyes.

"What have I told you about mumbling?"

Clasping my hands together behind me, I kept my eyes focused on the floor rather than on his face as I tried to fix the volume of my voice, clearing my throat before attempting to speak again.

"… That mumbling is rude."

"And are you rude, Lona?"

"… No, sir."

"Then I will ask again; _where have you been_?"

I swallowed quietly as a way of suppressing my fear, focusing my gaze back on him to avoid any further criticism on his behalf. I honestly wish he would yell at me instead of being so calm all the time. It saves me having to guess his current mood regarding my actions and words.

"… The cemetery, sir."

Nodding his head out of satisfaction at finally getting a clear answer out of me, my uncle proceeded to deepen his scowl.

"What have I told you about leaving the cottage, Lona?"

I tightened the grip on my hands to a point where I could feel my fingers hurting from the strain, using it as a coping mechanism to avoid putting myself out of place. It wasn't unnatural for my uncle to bombard me with a list of questions and expect me to answer them as bluntly as possible, but that didn't mean I didn't find it irritating, especially since I often repeated myself or had the urge to talk back.

"… That I need your permission."

"And did you ask for permission to go to the cemetery?"

"… No, sir."

"Why not, Lona?"

My fingers twitched as I continued to suppress the urge to answer back, my jaw clenching as I made the decision not to answer him for the moment. This did not go well with my uncle, who narrowed his eyes my way after a few seconds of silence had passed between us.

"… _Why didn't you ask for permission, Lona_? I want an answer out of you."

And still I refused to speak. I bit the inside of my lip to prevent myself from doing so, with the urge to vocalise my bitter response being on the tip of my tongue. I knew exactly why he wouldn't have given me permission to go to the cemetery, and I was aware that regardless of whether I spoke the reason or not, his reaction towards me would be bad either way. That was something I had learnt in the past year I had been forced to spend with uncle and auntie under their care.

When my silence stretched out even further, the sight of my uncle clenching his hands into fists against his thighs was enough indication for me to take two steps back away from his chair. Seconds after doing so, my eyes widened in alarm when my uncle stood from his seat too quickly for my liking, the force of his movements tipping his chair over onto the floor on its back with a loud thud. My terrified eyes stared up into his fiery brown as he towered over me, his fists lingering at his sides.

" _Answer me, Lona_."

Feeling beads of sweat beginning to trickle down the sides of my face, I clenched my jaw despite the pain I was causing by biting down on the inside skin of my lip, turning my gaze down to my boots once more to avoid making eye contact. It didn't matter how many times my uncle was prepared to demand an answer out of me. I refused to give it to him.

After another round of silence followed, a pair of hands roughly gripping at my shoulders caused them to stiffen from surprise, my gaze raising to see my uncle leaning over me. His eyes had become as dull as my auntie's, his voice low and quiet.

"Do you know _why_ your parents died, Lona?"

The question prompted my eyes to droop out of dismay, my shoulders slumping under his hold. I knew what was coming. I was given this lecture on a frequent basis.

'… _Here we go. He's going to preach to me again.'_

Despite knowing what he was going to say to me, I still decided to respond the way I always did just to humour him.

"… Because they were killed."

" _Yes_. And do you know _why_ they were killed, Lona?"

' _ **I wish I did**_ _…'_

"… No, sir."

"Because it was karma against God."

My eyes remained locked onto my uncle's as he leaned forward and lifted his hands from my shoulders, stopping once our faces were nose-length apart. He placed both of his hands on either side of my face, with his thumbs touching the skin just underneath my eyes.

"Your father was an insolent man, and he's clearly passed that insolence onto you. He was wrong to ignore my warnings about you and cut off contact for all those years. He should have known from the moment you were born that you were the equivalent to a demon-spawn. Your pupils practically spell it."

I showed no reaction to my uncle's words or actions, even when I felt him pull slightly at my bottom eyelids.

"Whatever happened to them that night was surely tragic, but it was a fate brought upon them by their obliviousness of how wrong they've raised you. You being brought to your aunt and I was part of God's will, I believe, and you should be grateful for it. We're trying to undo the wickedness your parents let you bask in and make you desirable in the eyes of the Lord. But in order to do that you need to be more co-operative. Does that make sense, Lona?"

I felt my fingers twitch behind my back as I loosened the grip they had on either hand some, but other than that I succeeded in showing no other visible reaction to my uncle's words except with a stiff nod.

"… Yes, sir."

With my uncle's eyes finally relaxing, he stood up straight again and took his hands away from my face, returning them to his sides.

"Very good. So, let me ask you one more time, Lona; why didn't you ask permission to go to the cemetery?"

Keeping my gaze locked with his, I unclasped my hands and returned them to my sides, deciding to just come clean and get this exchange over and done with. I was dying to get away from my uncle at this point.

"… Because you would have said 'no'."

"And why would I have said 'no'?"

I turned my eyes down towards the floor and closed my eyes, letting out a quiet sigh as mental preparation for the words I was reluctantly about to roll off my tongue.

"… Because my parents were 'sinners'," I answered, gulping seconds later at feeling sudden nausea wash over me.

" _Exactly._ And by disobeying me continuously and going to see them anyway, that also makes you a sinner too, doesn't it?"

I could feel my stomach twisting into knots at what I was forcing myself to say, but I knew I didn't have much choice if I wanted to feel the wrath of my uncle past what I'd already seen of him. Balling my hands into fists at my sides, I opened my eyes and responded in the clearest voice I could muster.

"… It does."

"And do you know what happens to sinful children who are disobedient?"

Lifting my head to look my uncle in the eyes once more, I relaxed my hands and answered him again with relief washing over me in place of my former nausea. The conversation was finally nearing its end, allowing me to get away from my uncle's patronising for the rest of the night.

"… They get sent to the attic without dinner?"

"They do," he replied, taking a step back and sitting down on the chair again after picking it up from the floor and setting it upright.

Upon making himself comfortable, he raised a hand and used the 'shooing' gesture. "Now, off you go, Lona."

"… Yes, sir."

Seconds after giving my prompt response, I was quick to turn away from my uncle and face the stairs, walking forward towards them without any hesitation. He didn't speak to me again and I didn't speak to him or look back as I rounded the side of the stairs and walked up them towards the second floor of the cottage. I kept my gaze fixed ahead the whole time, not daring to glance over the side to view my relatives from the stairs. I didn't like staying in the attic and using it as my permanent bedroom, given its box-like space. But it was the only time I got to escape from my uncle and auntie, so I was glad to take it over spending time with them any day.

As I reached the top of the stairs and turned towards the first door off to the right of the narrow hallway, I heard the click of the radio being turned back on (most likely at the hands of my uncle), followed by the sound of orchestra music beginning to overpower the silence of the cottage. That was enough of a signal to prove to me that my uncle had officially switched his focus away from me for the time being, which both relieved me and saddened me with the reminder of the reality I was currently living.

With my eyes drooping, I continued towards the closest door and reached out my hand to grip the handle, only closing them when I pushed it down and heard the creak of the door opening.

' _And once again I become the ignored prisoner.'_


	2. Chapter 2: Sinners and Secrets

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading, favouriting, and following this fanfiction. I'm surprised at the amount of attention this has gotten since I released the first chapter at the beginning of the month. I decided to give this fanfic a bit more of a push by completing and releasing the second chapter, but expect slow updates on this one due to medical concerns on my part and my focus also going towards another fanfic of mine in 'The Witch's House' section of the site. I do hope you enjoy the second chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Sinners and Secrets

In the darkness that covered the box spaced attic room, I had chosen to sit down at the bottom of the white mattress placed in the top right corner. Any natural light from outside that managed to shine into the gloom came from the small, rectangle window placed a foot out of my reach near the middle of the wall, creating a glowing rectangle against the wooden floor. Since entering the attic I had changed into a pair of pink, long sleeved pyjamas to prepare to sleep, but as time passed on by slowly I'd chosen to occupy my time instead, since my rumbling and empty stomach wasn't helping me. Uncle had yet to pull the bolt across the door from the other side, which was routine for him when he and auntie either went to bed or went out. As much as I hated being locked in the attic, it was my indication of knowing when I was going to be left alone. I wouldn't be reassured enough to settle down to sleep until I heard the scraping of the metal against the wood, even though I could only use outside to help gauge the time.

With my black four wheeled suitcase lying flat and closed on the floor beside my crossed legs, I stared down at the plain, wooden photo-frame encasing a photograph of me and my parents seven years ago resting against the yellow stars decorating my pyjama bottoms. The three of us were sat on the sofa of the former flat we'd lived in before we were forced to move elsewhere, with me sat on papa's right knee with the widest open-mouthed smile I'd ever seen on my face. My grandpa (god bless his soul) had been the one to take the photograph, and that reminder every time I glanced at this photo was enough to prove that was a happier time compared to now.

Staring into my parents' brown eyes and smiling faces, I stretched out an index finger to stroke it across mamma's flowing, chestnut brown locks and side-fringe. Although I took my hair colour from papa, I didn't have his short and curly style. Instead I'd taken mamma's hairstyle. But when it came to eye colour, I took after neither of them. My parents had assured me it was nothing to worry about, as they believed it was just a trait I'd probably taken from another relative in the past. But that obviously hadn't stopped people from treating me like I was worth the scum on the bottom of their shoe…

' _I wish I could go back there…'_ I thought, pulling my hand away from the photograph to cup my cheek and rest my elbow on my knee. _'We had to move out of the flat because the new owners who took over planned to use the building for something else, but I remember papa saying last year that it was abandoned now when he'd driven by the area._ _I know the way there from the cottage. If I had to, I could easily make my way back. It would make the ideal place to flee to.'_

I closed my eyes and huffed.

' _But I used up the last of the allowance I managed to save for those fake roses. And uncle has stopped giving it to me as 'punishment' for spending it on flowers for the grave instead of on the 'luxuries' he refuses to put in this room…'_

Opening my eyes, I focused my gaze onto the photograph in my lap, my eyes drooping in dismay.

' _Uncle's logic is so stupid. If I hadn't been living with him and auntie for the last year, then maybe my faith in God would still stand. But they've continued to use his name to control me and place their judgement on me. I'm not allowed to express any form of emotion. I'm not allowed my own opinions or thoughts. I have to work for my keep. And if I break any of these conditions, I'm punished.'_

Collecting the photo-frame into both hands and lifting it from my lap, I tilted my body so that I fell back onto the white blanket and single pillow covering the mattress, bringing the photo-frame forward to hug against my chest. Stretching my legs out flat, I stared up at the bare and slanted ceiling along with its wooden roofbeams concealed in the dark.

' _I've never understood it. It's obvious uncle and auntie don't like me. So why do they insist on keeping me around? Why not put me into foster care? Or send me to my maternal relatives living abroad?'_

Had my maternal relatives not moved to the US instead of staying here in the UK with mamma and stayed in contact with her, I was sure I would have ended up with them instead of my uncle and auntie. The same would have applied to my paternal grandparents if they were still alive. However, because they couldn't get in contact with my maternal relatives and my parents' will passed everything onto me (and I currently wasn't old enough to do anything about it), papa's remaining relatives ended up taking control of everything, including the inheritance money. Part of me wondered if the latter had something to do with them keeping me around, but I had yet to find sufficient proof for this to be true…

' _What did I do to deserve this? I know I'm not perfect, but I'm not a bad person, either. All I wanted was to live my life. Is that really too much to ask?'_

I closed my eyes when I started to feel tears gathering in them, prompting me to roll over onto my right side to face the wall and pull the picture closer into my chest. I flinched at feeling and hearing the low rumble my tummy made once again, but did my best to ignore it.

' _No crying, Lona. If uncle happens to walk in, you'll-'_

My thoughts were interrupted by the loud bang of the door to the attic stairs being pulled open, followed by the faint voice of my auntie addressing my uncle.

"Are you sure you shouldn't lock the door just in case? You know how sneaky she can be."

Hearing hurried footsteps thudding their way up the wooden stairs and approaching the attic door, I kept my eyes closed and pulled my legs close to my body out of instinct, slowing down my breathing to make it look like I was sleeping. I found this situation unusual but decided to let things play out until I was sure of what was going on. I also didn't think it wise to still be awake when the door was opened. I didn't know how uncle would react to seeing me like this.

In seconds of me doing this, I heard the footsteps stop and the door open with a loud creak. Silence momentarily fell around the room as I focused on being as still as possible and not drawing attention to myself, feeling my heart thudding against my ribcage from the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I'd already gotten into trouble once today. I didn't want to get into trouble again just because I happened to be accidentally eavesdropping on business that didn't concern me.

After what felt like a lifetime of silence, my uncle spoke up in a loud whisper to respond to my auntie.

"She's asleep anyway. She's not going to know. And it's not like she's going to run away."

He continued talking even as I heard him back away from the room and close the door with a click, his voice growing faint as he started moving away at a hurried pace.

"Now, hurry! That woman can only subdue his temper tantrums for so long!"

I frowned in confusion at my uncle's words as I listened to his footsteps descend the stairs and slowly fade away, prompting me to raise my head and turn it slightly to face the door when I heard the faint thud of the cottage door being shut. As curious as I was about who my uncle had been talking about (believing it to be connected to his and auntie's occasional trips away from the cottage), I was more concerned about uncle deciding not to lock the attic door.

'… _Have they just left_ _ **without**_ _locking me in? Am I dreaming?'_

It was incomprehensible to me. For as long as I'd been here, uncle had always locked the attic door without fail, whether it be when I slept or whenever they went out. So for him to not deem it necessary due to my apparently successful acting skills...

' _This is too good to be true. It's not farfetched for me to assume the door is locked had I actually been asleep and missed everything he said. I know I wouldn't bother to check since I expect uncle to lock it regardless. And yet…'_

Leaving the picture on top of the mattress, I slowly pushed myself to my feet and crept towards the attic door, placing my right hand and ear against the wood to listen for any more noise. I could hear the faint sound of orchestra music downstairs, leading me to assume that uncle and auntie had left the radio on and forgotten to close the door at the bottom of the stairs. Had they forgotten to turn it off in their hurry, or had it been left playing on purpose to trick me into thinking they were still downstairs?

' _There's only one way to find out…'_

Deciding to be a daredevil, I took a step or two away from the door and reached out to grab the door handle, slowly turning it and pulling it open. The orchestra music became a little louder as I did so, and I swore I could hear a car engine and car tyres against gravel. I waited until the door was opened wide enough and the sounds outside either stopped or started to fade before stepping out of the room, pausing at the top of the stairs and staring down towards the door at the bottom. Sure enough, it had been left wide open, bathing the bottom few steps in the moon's bright glow.

'… _This is really strange. If there's one thing I know about uncle, it's that he's not careless. Even when he's in a hurry, he checks everything before stepping out of the cottage. Surely, he and auntie aren't trying to test me, are they? And even if they were, is there a logical point to it?'_

I was well aware that my uncle only ever chose to focus his attention on specific aspects of myself, whereas my auntie liked to pretend I wasn't there at all. So it was rare that they ever knew what I was doing or where I was until I made a mistake that drew their attention. They never goaded me to do so, either. They were just picky with my behaviour and appearance, and always waited for me to commit the 'sin'. It didn't seem right that they would purposely mess with me.

I flinched and glanced down towards my stomach when I heard and felt another rumble of hunger make itself known, prompting me to scowl and reach my left hand down to rub at the area through my pyjama top.

' _You know what? Forget this! I'm going to go and see if they're gone! And if they are, I'll take the opportunity during their absence to eat something! It's better than me hiding away in the attic and starving because I'm too scared to check!'_

With this thought in mind, I unfolded my arms and placed my right hand against the wooden wall, making my way down the stairs with quick and loud steps, my bare feet thudding against the stairs all the while. I was starting to feel the adrenaline taking hold of me now, slowly diminishing my fear of disobeying my uncle and being caught the closer I got to the second floor. I didn't even stop when I'd stepped off the stairs and was face to face with the second floor hallway, carrying on across the threshold and towards the top of the ground floor stairs. Despite the lack of light, I was able to find my way just fine with the little moonlight streaming in through the windows.

I continued until I reached halfway down the first floor stairs, stopping and turning to face the banister so I could lean against it and look out towards the two areas of the bottom floor of the cottage. The dining and seating areas of the cottage were empty, with no signs of my uncle or auntie anywhere. Through the window closest to the stairs I could see my uncle's car wasn't on the gravelled drive, with the radio still playing orchestra music from where it had been left on the dining table. It was as clear as day. My uncle and auntie had left me alone in the cottage with the attic door unlocked.

I stared at the dark and empty cottage for a little longer in silence, daring to lift a hand from the banister and use my index finger and thumb to pinch the skin of my other one just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I flinched at the pain that followed, but found nothing had changed. I was still faced with the same dark and empty room before me, with the radio still playing without any interruption.

' _I have the cottage all to myself.'_

I blinked in surprise at hearing that sentence spoken in my thoughts, leading me to place a hand close to my lips and say it out loud to confirm it as truth.

"… I have the cottage all to myself."

Without warning I felt my mouth slip into a wide smile; the first sign of happiness I had expressed in over a year since being brought to the home of my relatives. Moving away from the banister, I turned to run the rest of the way down the stairs and into the middle of the room that separated the dining area and the seating area, unable to contain my sudden excitement at the fact I wasn't dreaming. I paused and turned my head to look up at the ceiling, placing both hands to the sides of my mouth and yelling to the heavens with my smile still present.

"I have the cottage all to myself! _Aha_!"

It didn't matter to me anymore why auntie and uncle had left in such a hurry and neglected what they had. I'd been granted temporary freedom from my cruel routine, and I planned to savour every single second of it.

The low rumbling of my tummy was quick to wipe the smile off my face, prompting me to lower my hands back to my sides and focus my gaze in the direction of the cupboards along the back wall.

'… _I should probably find something to eat first. I don't know when they're going to be back, after all.'_

With the music from the radio switching to the radio host, I made the quick decision to look in the fridge beside the counter instead, turning in the latter's direction and moving over to it. I chose to ignore the host at first, opening the fridge door and having a quick scan of the food I could eat quickly without my uncle and auntie realising it was missing. Although I was hungry, I knew I had to be careful in case I was caught or found out for disobeying the punishment and getting my food ban extended. This meant I had to avoid any snacks my uncle or auntie commonly ate, because that would make my thievery more obvious. Luckily, my uncle and auntie also ended up buying a lot of food that they didn't end up liking, and that was usually left for me to find when I needed to make myself something.

I was aware auntie had recently bought herself a pack of yoghurts that she ended up not liking and had decided to put them out of the way in the fruit and vegetable drawer, leading me to pull said drawer out enough to reach a hand in and grab one of the pots. However, as I did this and proceeded to push the drawer closed, the change from the radio host to the news host managed to divert my attention to the radio once more and what was being said whilst I went about my business.

" _Good evening. It's 11o'clock and I'm Ann McKenzie with the latest news headlines. US authorities suspect that recent activities brought about at the hands of an unidentified cult a week ago may have copycat crimes taking place across the US and the UK._ "

Closing the fridge door, I made my way towards the kitchen drawers and pulled open the cutlery drawer, reaching my free hand in for a spoon as I continued to listen to the female speaker.

' _Is this connected to what uncle and auntie were listening to earlier?'_

" _Further police investigations into the remnants of a burnt building have unearthed evidence to suggest a string of murders took place inside, including broken gravestones and files salvaged from the wreckage with the names of people who have recently gone missing or have been missing over recent years. Police suspect the building's owner 'Abraham Gray', a former reverend who has been missing since allegations were made regarding his involvement with the unidentified religious cult, may be responsible for these murders._ "

I frowned at the mention of the name as I turned away from the drawer and nudged it closed with my elbow when I'd retrieved a spoon, making my way to the table and pulling out the chair auntie had been sat on earlier this evening.

' _Abraham Gray… Haven't I heard that name somewhere before today?'_

I continued to listen as I sat down and rested the spoon and yoghurt pot on the table, holding the latter still with one hand and using the other to pull the paper lid off.

" _Since investigations have begun, US police have discovered similar crimes taking place throughout the US and even in the UK involving members connected to the unidentified religious cult, some of which have been going on under the publics' noses for years. UK police claim they have re-opened unsolved missing persons and murder cases as a result due to collected evidence being linked to recently uncovered evidence. They have yet to reveal the number of arrests that have been made in connection to the ongoing investigation. In other news, a man from_ -"

I stopped listening to the news report the moment it changed to a different news story, having started eating the yoghurt in the meantime. In between mouthfuls I focused my attention on the windows of the cottage, feeling a sudden sense of déjà vu washing over me. Uncle and auntie had left me home alone plenty of times since I was forced to live with them, but I'd spent the majority of that time locked in the attic. Officially, this was the first time in a while that I had been left home alone and free to wander the home I was in. There had only been one other time where this had happened, and the reminder was enough to cause my stomach to flip.

' _The night mamma and papa died…'_

I swallowed the next mouthful of yoghurt with a little difficulty, reaching my other hand up to rub at the skin of my throat even if doing so would have been of little help.

' _They only wanted to spend a night out together. They thought I was old enough to be left home alone for a couple of hours. They said they would be back by midnight. I sat by the window and waited for them.'_

I paused after putting the last spoonful of yoghurt in my mouth, my eyes drooping as I turned my gaze away to stare at the surface of the table.

' _But they never came home. Even after I'd dozed off and woke up the next morning, they still hadn't come back. And then the police showed up at the door…'_

But I didn't allow myself to finish that thought. I shook my head and stood up from the table, the now empty yoghurt pot and spoon still in my hands.

' _The same thing won't happen to uncle and auntie. As much as I don't like them, I wouldn't wish that kind of scenario to happen to anyone.'_

Moving away from the table, I was quick to discard the empty yoghurt pot into the small and white plastic bin in the corner beside the sink, proceeding to rinse the spoon under the taps before placing it on the drainer.

' _In any case, I've eaten now. I'll take this chance to return to bed and pretend I never left the attic, including leaving everything as uncle and auntie left it. They'll know I've been out here if they think I've meddled with anything.'_

As I prepared to turn away and head towards the stairs, I dared to glance at the empty cottage once more, my gaze remaining fixed on it even when I started to go up the stairs on my way back to the attic.

' _Everything will return to normal in the morning. I'll go back to being the invisible sinner of the cottage once more, and it'll be as if this never happened.'_

I looked away upon reaching the second floor, continuing up the next flight of stairs and entering the attic, pulling the door closed behind me as I went. I yawned as I walked over towards the mattress and crouched down to pull the quilt back, suddenly feeling the drowsiness kicking in as I picked up the photo-frame so it didn't get in the way.

Crawling my way onto the mattress and lying down on my left side, I pulled the covers over me up to my chin and placed the picture flat on the empty side of my pillow. Pulling my arms and legs close to my body I stared at the picture one last time in silence for a moment, feeling my eyelids growing heavy with each blink.

"Goodnight, Mamma. Goodnight, Papa," I mumbled, allowing my eyes to close as I tried to finish what I wanted to say before falling asleep. "I love you…"

* * *

When the morning finally arrived, I found myself waking up on my own without my uncle being there to act as my alarm like the usual. After going down to the first floor to look for him and auntie, I was met with the room being the same as I'd last left it, including with the radio still being on. The latter had once again been set on the news headlines when I'd entered the room, informing me that it was already quarter past ten in the morning. My uncle usually forced me awake at six so I could start the chores early, and since I couldn't see uncle's car on the gravelled drive either, this further indicated that they hadn't been home since I'd gone to bed. I did find this to be strange, as they were never usually out of the house for this long. But that didn't stop me from going about my routine as normal.

I made myself breakfast from what little food had been left for me in the cupboards and cleaned up everything I'd used so there wasn't a mess left behind. I decided to keep the radio turned on to allow the cottage to be filled with some sound, but didn't change the station. Uncle and auntie always kept it on a specific radio station for reasons unknown to me, and they didn't like it to be changed. As much as I wasn't a fan of their orchestra music or listening to the music, I had gotten used to tuning it out unless it caught my interest. I also took the opportunity to clean myself up and get changed from my pyjamas into similarly styled clothes I'd worn the day before, as well as get on with my chores in the absence of my guardians; hoovering the rug and mopping the tiled floor being two of the three things I was expected to do. I was at the age now where people believed I could take care of myself to a certain extent, including my uncle and auntie, so I was very self-sufficient for a fifteen-year-old.

By the time I had moved on to sweeping the second floor and the attic room of the cottage (literally holding the broom with my right hand and allowing the bristles to drag up the stairs as I walked up them because of how tired I was by this point, accompanied by a dustpan and brush in my left hand), my uncle and auntie had still not returned, with the drive remaining empty with the exception of the tire tracks left in the gravel. Standing in between the top of the first set of stairs and the bottom of the attic stairs in the middle of the hallway, I let out a small sigh and proceeded to place the dustpan and brush on the floor within the attic stairs doorway, starting my sweeping by pushing the broom along the floor and stretching it out across a small portion of the area before pulling it back with whatever amount of dust I'd gathered.

' _It's nearly 1o'clock in the afternoon and_ _ **still**_ _they haven't returned. Now I'm starting to get worried…'_

Repeating the process with the broom, I started to edge my way forward down the narrow hallway, my eyes staying locked on the bristles as I stayed deep in thought.

' _It's natural for them to be gone for most of the day. They've done it plenty of times before. But the way they left last night was suspicious, like it wasn't planned…'_

I allowed my brow to furrow as I started to pass by my uncle's and auntie's bedroom to my left with the spare bedroom to my right, with both doors closed shut. I was banned from going into either room unless I was instructed to, but there had been times where the doors had been left open and I was able to glance inside. Both rooms were kept tidy and didn't appear to be out of the ordinary, so I only focused on staying clear to avoid unnecessary trouble.

However, unlike all the other times I'd passed by my uncle's and auntie's room, I found myself coming to a sudden halt when realisation hit me out of nowhere, prompting me to turn my head back slightly towards the door with a surprised blink.

' _I remember now. I remember where I heard that name. Mamma once told papa that uncle and auntie met a man named 'Abraham Gray' before they converted to Christianity. I wonder…'_

I turned my body around fully so that I was facing the doorway to the bedroom, having sudden and suspicious thoughts beginning to swirl around in my head; like a witch stirring her bizarre concoction inside of a cauldron.

'… _I'm being silly, right? Uncle and auntie do and say strange things sometimes, but there's no way they're cult followers. It might just be a coincidence that they met someone who happens to share the same name as an accused cult leader!'_

And yet the longer I stared at the bedroom door that belonged to my uncle and auntie, the less convinced I became regarding their innocence.

' _It does make sense with their behaviour towards me, though. Auntie never looks at me or acknowledges me because she thinks I'm a demon-spawn of some kind. And although uncle does the opposite, he's always going on about my eyes for the same reason. That sounds like something members of a religious cult would think. And it would also explain why mamma and papa were insistent on keeping away from them…'_

I briefly turned my eyes away to stare down the hallway towards the stairs for the first floor and the attic, being quick to focus back on the door in front of me and placing the broom against the wall to keep it steady. I wanted to believe that I was just being paranoid given everything that had happened, but I could feel my body twitching and becoming restless at not taking the opportunity whilst I still had it.

' _If uncle and auntie were here, I wouldn't dare dream of doing anything like this. But the confusion and suspicions are killing me.'_

I slowly started to approach the door and reach out my right hand just as it started to tremble, aiming it for the doorknob.

' _If what was said on the radio was true, then it's possible my parents' case falls under the potential of being connected to this man. And if uncle and auntie have something to do with him, then maybe I can finally find something that'll help me work out what happened to them that night.'_

I paused when my fingers wrapped themselves around the brass doorknob, my hand preparing to turn in order to open the door.

' _This might be the only chance I get to look into this room. And since everyone else around me has given up on getting answers, it's time I took the necessary steps to get them for myself.'_

Loud knocking at the cottage door downstairs startled me and prompted me to gasp. I was quick to let go of the doorknob and take a few steps away into the middle of the hallway, turning my head in the direction of the stairs with a confused blink. I had thought for a moment that uncle and auntie had returned home from wherever they'd gone last night, but I was quick to realise that I hadn't heard the car pull onto the drive. Not to mention it was their home, so they had no need to knock.

' _Who's at the door, then?'_

Uncle had never told me if I was allowed to answer the door when home alone, because I was always locked in the attic when he and auntie left the cottage. So I found myself with quite the dilemma on my hands.

I flinched when I heard the knocking sound a second time, finally prompting me to move from where I was standing and jog towards the stairs leading down to the ground floor. I hurried my way down and approached the window closest to the stairs, peeking around the curtain with one hand gripping at the material for support as I glanced towards the front door of the cottage.

My eyes widened upon sighting a young man with short, white hair hidden underneath a black peaked cap, wearing a black open-necked tunic with a white shirt underneath, a black tie, and black trousers. The white and black checker pattern and insignia on the hat was enough for me to recognise who was standing at the door, and it caused my body to stiffen in horror.

' _Oh, no…'_

He was a police constable.


	3. Chapter 3: Almost Deja Vu

**A/N: Thank you again to those who have been reading, favouriting and following this fanfiction. It's nice to see people are giving it a chance despite the odds. I would have updated this sooner, but recent medical issues I've been having kept me away and dwindled my muse a little bit. I was going to make this chapter a little longer and end it at a different point, but I thought that I'd be better off ending it where I did to avoid rushing it or making a mess of the scene. It seemed wiser to use this as a transition in the next chapter instead. I hope you enjoy the next instalment either way.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Almost Déjà vu

For a moment I found myself staring at the constable with wide eyes, feeling an immediate sense of déjà vu wash over me. I felt my hand gripping at the curtain starting to tremble, and my breathing hitched in my throat. I was at a complete loss of words, questioning over and over again in my head if what I was seeing was actually true. So many theories regarding the fate of my uncle and auntie were swirling around in my thoughts, causing my trembling hand to tighten its grip on the curtain's material.

' _This isn't happening. This isn't happening. Not now. Not so soon. I can't live through this again.'_

From the faint reflection of my face in the window's glass, I could see the colour had drained so much that it was now as white as said curtains. Just like on the day I'd found out about my parents' deaths, the same questions I'd asked myself then were quickly being voiced once more; 'What's going to happen to me?', 'Where will I go?', 'What will I do now?', 'How will I cope?', etc. Although there was no guarantee anything bad had happened to my paternal relatives, the implication was there and practically staring me in the face. What else was I supposed to think in this situation?

I was quickly pulled from my thoughts, however, when my lingering gaze on the police constable caught him turning his head in my direction, prompting me to hesitate and gasp loudly at seeing his pink eyes lock with mine.

' _Has he seen me-?!'_

Taking a few quick steps backwards to move away from the window, I reached my other hand out to grip at the other curtain and pull both of them across to hide myself, letting go and taking a further two steps backwards with my hands clasped together once I'd brought them close to my chest. I wasn't prepared to stand there and wait to see if he had spotted me. In my mind, that was a silly risk.

I was silent as I stayed where I was and kept my gaze focused on the curtains, feeling my whole body shaking as I listened out for any indication I was right in case I wasn't being paranoid. But I was secretly hoping I was.

' _Dammit, Lona! You were staring at him for too long! You're usually more careful than this!'_

The muffled sound of faint footsteps crunching against the gravel outside caused me to take another step backwards out of caution, forcing me to listen as they got louder and closer to the window. I could feel the sweat beginning to dampen my brow when the footsteps outside were silenced, my eyes focusing on the tall silhouette of the constable lingering on the other side of the curtains from the sunlight shining into the cottage.

' _Oh no…'_

The silhouette raised its right hand and gave the glass three loud taps, prompting me to recoil my body back at the flinch that followed the noise. Seconds after, though, a young, muffled, male voice spoke to me.

"… Hello? Are you 'Lona'?!"

My eyes widened in surprise at hearing my name mentioned, but I had little time to properly process the question before the constable continued speaking.

"I'm an acquaintance of your Uncle Richard and Aunt Agnes! They've asked me to check on you and make sure everything's alright!"

I raised a brow out of confusion at hearing the names of uncle and auntie, prompting me to straighten my posture and take a moment to process everything he'd just said.

' _Wait. Did he just say uncle and auntie asked them to check on me? If so, then that means…'_

My thoughts trailed off when I briefly closed my eyes and let out a quiet sigh of relief, not needing to finish it to know what it meant. Uncle and auntie were okay. Nothing bad had happened to them.

' _Phew. At least that's one worry off my mind.'_

However, it didn't take long for my eyes to open when I realised there was something off with the constable's last statement.

' _Wait. Uncle and auntie always act differently around the people they interact with, and they_ _ **certainly**_ _never tell anyone about how they treat me. Their behaviour towards me has always been within the walls of this cottage. So why would they risk sending someone they know –_ _ **especially a constable who has the authority to charge and arrest them for abuse and neglect**_ _\- to come and check on me?'_

This sudden thought had raised a lot more questions than providing me with answers. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of situation uncle and auntie were currently in that would force them to send someone in their place, going off the knowledge I had from past experiences.

A further three loud taps on the window's glass brought me out of my train of thought with a startled flinch.

"You don't need to be afraid of me! I promise I don't bite!"

Despite the constable's reassurance I found myself scowling towards the curtains temporarily separating us, not finding his attempts at being humorous in such a situation to be the slightest bit funny. For someone who was dressed like a policeman, I expected him to display the same professionalism I had seen from the officers I had to deal with during the investigation of my parents' deaths. However, that was clearly absent with this particular constable for some reason…

' _He's not going to stop until I reveal myself. I was hoping to avoid this, but I suppose I don't have much choice…'_

My gut was telling me that there was clearly something wrong here, as there were a lot of things that didn't add up. However, I couldn't help but also feel intrigued by the information being given to me, as it further augmented my suspicions regarding the events of the night before.

' _Perhaps this constable can shed some light on uncle's and auntie's strange behaviour last night, if his claims of being their acquaintance are true.'_

Huffing out of annoyance, I eventually decided to give in to his persistence and slowly walked forward towards the curtains and pulled them apart, dispersing the silhouette and revealing the white-haired constable in all his glory. Upon seeing me he briefly blinked in surprise at my appearance, but soon replaced his shock with a wide smile as if to further reassure me. It didn't remove my scowl as I lifted the latch for the right side of the window that kept it closed, allowing me to push it open so there was only a small gap separating the two of us. I couldn't help but wonder if his momentary shock at seeing me had anything to do with my eyes; not that I'd be surprised if that was the case. But I decided not to dwell on that thought. It wasn't important right now.

"Well, you surrendered rather quickly, didn't you?" he said with a teasing tone as he turned his body slightly to face me, my scowl deepening at his further attempts of humour.

"… Are you a _real_ police constable?" I asked, prompting his smile to fade and to be replaced with a confused blink.

"Hm? What makes you say that?"

I gave the constable a quick look up and down before shrugging my shoulders. Seeing him up close made him appear a foot taller than me, with his youthful facial features having me guess his age to be in his early twenties. Despite this information being based solely on my hunch, it did explain his light-hearted and jovial behaviour towards me somewhat.

"No reason, really. You just don't seem to act like one despite wearing the uniform."

At hearing my remark, the young constable chuckled and placed his hands to his hips, righting his posture and raising his head a little so that he was stood with a proud stance. He responded to me in a mocking, strict tone.

"I'll have you know, young lady, that _I am_ _indeed_ a real police constable," he paused for a few seconds before resuming his response in his normal speaking voice. "I just happen to be off-duty today. I was literally leaving the station when Richard called me to ask for this urgent favour, so I came straight here from my work and didn't have time to change."

I raised a brow out of suspicion at the explanation, prompting the constable to close his eyes and reach his right hand to his nape to give it a brief rub.

"You _are_ 'Lona Rivers', though, right?"

I narrowed my eyes at this.

"… _And what if I am_?"

The constable snorted at my response and opened his eyes, a smile of amusement appearing on his face.

"Yeah. You must be the one. I was told you were cautious."

I blinked in surprise at his words, but my reaction wasn't enough to stop him from continuing.

"Richard warned me beforehand to be careful since you've apparently had traumatic encounters involving the police. I was trying to come across as friendly as possible, but I suppose my uniform and strange behaviour have made you wary of me anyway, huh?"

I tilted my head to the side a little and stared at the constable in brief silence, taking my time in processing his responses before choosing to speak again. His explanation was certainly convenient; perhaps a little _too_ convenient…

"… And do you really expect me to believe you?"

The constable opened his eyes and allowed his shoulders to droop when he shook his head, flashing me a small, warm smile as he reached his right hand for the left chest pocket of his tunic.

"Not really. But have no fear! Your uncle thought ahead in the likely case you chose to act hostile towards me."

I watched with a confused blink as the constable pulled out a black IPhone from his tunic pocket, but I wasn't close enough to know which model it was. Not that I cared and it was of any importance to this situation.

I continued to stay silent as the constable tapped away with his index finger of his other hand against the phone's touchscreen whilst he held it close to his face, only for him to turn the phone around after a few seconds and hold it out so that the screen was facing me. He'd loaded up a voice recording that was currently playing, with the title of the recording displaying 'Show to Lona'. After ten seconds of silence, I blinked in surprise upon hearing my uncle's voice address me.

" _Lona, your aunt and I are currently dealing with a serious issue that requires our attention for longer than we expected. I don't know when we'll be back, but in the meantime I have sent an acquaintance of ours to keep an eye on you. His name is 'Conner'. He's going to be in charge for now, so listen to him and don't leave the cottage. Behave yourself."_

My eyes drooped in dismay by the time the recording ended, my gaze switching to 'Conner' as he turned his phone around and went about closing the necessary apps and returning his phone to his tunic pocket.

' _It doesn't seem like he was lying, then. That sounded like uncle, alright. He always puts on a convincing act around others that makes it look like he gives a damn about my wellbeing.'_

The evidence presented to me strongly supported Conner's case, even if a lot of it still didn't make much sense to me when thinking about his behaviour and uncle's usual logic regarding how he treated me.

"So, am I in the clear now?" I heard Conner ask, prompting me to abandon my thoughts for the time being and sigh in dismay at my current predicament.

I didn't have much choice in the matter now. I had to let the man inside, even though I was not looking forward to being in his company and was still a little wary of him. I still had a lot of questions that I wanted the answers to, but there was always the chance that Conner could possibly provide me with some of them. It was the only positive I could think of that I could get out of this awkward situation.

"… I suppose so. Give me a moment to unlock the door."

* * *

After allowing Conner inside the cottage, I showed him to the dining room and asked him if he wanted anything to drink, to which he responded with tea and additional information regarding how he wanted it made. Despite my suspicions of him and his connection to my uncle and aunt, I knew better than to neglect my manners, especially since I didn't have any solid proof to go off at the moment. I did believe in the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty', after all.

Filling up the kettle with water from the sink taps and then setting it to boil, I turned around to face Conner sat in my uncle's spot at the table with my arms folded and my back pressed against the worktop, watching him in silence as his eyes wandered around the room. Aside from the bubbling water behind me the radio continued to act as a filler between me and Conner for the time, still playing the orchestra music my uncle and auntie apparently loved so much. I had wanted to turn it off because I thought it would be rather rude of me to leave it on whilst a guest was present, but I decided to keep it on in case there were any more updates about that unidentified religious cult. The radio station were also prone to give news updates in between at certain times of the day to break everything up.

"Impressive," he muttered over the current rendition of Beethoven's 'The Ninth', his eyes briefly pausing their movement as they lingered on the ceiling. "I never knew Richard and Agnes lived in such a quaint, little home. It surprisingly suits them."

Conner lowered his head to lock gazes with me, his arms also folded and resting against the table's wooden surface. His IPhone was placed screen-up just in front of him, which he'd clearly taken out of his pocket again upon sitting down at the table.

"Richard tells me you originally come from the town I work in. It must have been hard for a city girl like you to adjust to the countryside, I bet."

My eyes drooped in dismay at Conner's attempts to start a conversation with me, my head turning away to glance in the direction of the stairs as a form of distraction. I knew there was going to be the likely chance he'd try and talk to me at some point, so the situation had been inevitable. He appeared to be the chatty type in comparison to myself. Even so, I did find myself intrigued by the information he'd just provided about himself.

' _Interesting… He comes from the same town I formerly lived in. What a small world.'_

"It wasn't," I replied, deciding to entertain him despite my reluctance to speak in the first place. "I prefer the countryside's peaceful atmosphere to the city's busy one, so being out here is more ideal for me."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Conner nod in acknowledgement to my response, only for his gaze to then focus on the radio just to his left (my right) as 'The Ninth' continued to play in the background. I'd purposely made my response blunt as a way to discreetly deflect any further attempts to continue having a conversation with him. But I knew my efforts were useless either way, even if I didn't see the harm in trying.

"… Are you a fan of the orchestra genre, then? Seeing as you have the radio set on this specific station."

I was quick to shake my head without turning my gaze to him, trying my best to not come off as rude even though it was becoming increasingly difficult not to be.

"No. It's more to my uncle's and auntie's tastes. I've only left it on for the news updates."

The sound of the kettle whistling and the bubbling water slowly calming down gave me a distraction to liberate myself from our small talk. I was quick to stand up straight again and turn to face the kettle, reaching out my hands to grab its handle and the tea cup I had retrieved from the cupboards (with the required amount of sugar and the tea bag already placed inside). Whilst I focused on pouring the tea and making it how Conner specified, I thought I heard said Conner chuckle in amusement from somewhere behind me.

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

I shook my head in response upon putting the kettle down with my one hand and stirring the tea with the teaspoon in my other hand once the water had been poured, continuing to keep my focus on my task rather than on Conner's small talk.

"I thought so. Richard did say you were one for blunt responses."

I rolled my eyes at that remark with the knowledge that Conner couldn't see me do so anyway, eventually stopping with my stirring to remove the tea bag via the teaspoon and momentarily moving away in the direction of the bin to dispose of the former.

"I'm a blunt person."

" _Clearly_ ," Conner replied through a chuckle as I tipped the tea bag off the teaspoon and into the bin, only to turn towards the fridge and use my free hand to open it up and reach in to retrieve the bottle of milk from the shelves on the door. "But I suppose that's better than being the person who beats around the bush, don't you think?"

I gave a brief nod and pushed the fridge door closed with my elbow with the milk now in my other hand, responding as I made my walk back to the half-made cup of tea sitting on the worktop.

"… I suppose it is."

As I placed the teaspoon back in the cup and twisted the lid off the bottle of milk in preparation to pour a little in, I decided it was time I attempted to take control of the direction of the conversation. Based on the topics Conner had used, it was obvious he was trying to get to know me by gleaming what little information he could through small talk. This wasn't going to get me anywhere near to him telling me where my uncle and auntie were and what they were up to, so I knew I needed to make an effort here despite loathing social interaction.

As Beethoven's 'The Ninth' drew to a close on the radio and was promptly replaced by another orchestra soundtrack I was unfamiliar with, I finished stirring the milk into the tea before removing the spoon and placing it on the worktop. I only chose to speak after putting the milk bottle down, too, and grabbing the cup by its handle as I turned around to face Conner.

"… Do you mind if I ask you something, Conner?"

Conner briefly blinked in surprise at my question as I approached the table and placed his steaming cup of tea on the coaster just to his left (my right), only to tilt his head a little to the side as I pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down with my hands on either side of the seat.

"Not at all. What do you want to ask?"

"You've said you're an acquaintance of my uncle and auntie." I paused to lean back in my seat, frowning out of curiosity. "In what way are you actually acquainted with them?"

Conner's brows raised as he straightened out his head, leaving him staring at me in silence for a moment. His apparent hesitation and delay to respond was something I found myself wary of. Had I caught him off-guard despite the question being a relatively normal one?

"How am I acquainted with Richard and Agnes?" He repeated, prompting him to unfold his arms and place a hand under his chin. "Well, I've always known them as friends of my family. They're very close to my parents, but I've been around them since the day I was born."

Conner paused and smiled fondly when his gaze started to wander up towards the ceiling a little, as if reminiscing about the memories that came with the explanation.

"I've always looked up to them like the uncle and auntie I never had; a lot like your own blood relation to them, actually."

' _ **Oh**_ _, I have to disagree with you heavily on that one…'_

I clenched my hands into fists to prevent any negative reactions being reflected on my face, knowing full well that I couldn't be entirely sure whether Conner was aware of my true relationship with my paternal relatives. Instead, I raised my brows as a sign of curiosity towards his words.

"Huh… So, would you say you have a fairly close relationship with them?"

Conner nodded as he focused his gaze on me once more, reaching out a hand to grab his cup of tea by its handle and raise it close to his face. "Oh, yes! Certainly! Why do you ask?"

As Conner finished his question and tilted his cup to his lips to take a quick gulp of tea, I found myself frowning in confusion. His enquiry had caught me off-guard this time.

"What do you mean by that?"

Conner swallowed another gulp of tea from his cup before moving it away from his mouth and returning it to the coaster, resting his arms on the table again when a smirk appeared.

"Well, you're clearly enquiring about my relationship with your uncle and aunt for a reason, aren't you? You're obviously after something."

I swallowed quietly at this and leaned my head back a little, feeling sweat starting to gather on my brow at the realisation that Conner was probably more perceptive than I originally gave him credit for. Or that perhaps I was just a terrible actress and had made my intentions all too obvious.

' _Drat! Is he already on to me?!'_

I was quick to regain my composure by shaking my head and sitting up a little straighter in my seat, my hands now moving to grip at the sides of my chair as I tried my best to continue despite my cover possibly being blown.

"… Am I not allowed to be curious?"

"Of course you are," Conner paused for a moment as his smirk widened out of amusement. "But for someone who has been showing signs of being anti-social, it's a little odd for them to be suddenly taking the reins and asking questions out of the blue, isn't it? I mean, there's always the chance you're asking me because of how wary you are. But your closed body language tells me otherwise."

The minute I felt the sweat trickling down the sides of my face, my shoulders slumped in defeat with the knowledge that I couldn't keep up the act any longer. He was definitely on to me.

'… _Yep. He was already on to me.'_

Feeling the heat rising to my cheeks out of embarrassment, I lowered my gaze to the table's surface as the humiliation quickly started to settle in. I should have known better than to think I could outsmart a police constable.

Assuming he'd seen the defeated expression on my face and body language that had come with it, I heard Conner laugh a little and felt him pinch my right cheek lightly between his index finger and thumb.

" _Aw_ ~. You look so cute when you're defeated~."

I raised my gaze and pursed my lips a little out of anger at his mocking tone, prompting him to move his hand away and return it to the table with a silly smile on his face, returning to his normal speaking voice.

"But seriously, don't go pouting over it like it's the end of the world. I would have caught you out sooner or later." He raised his hands from the table and pointed his index fingers towards his tunic with a grin. "Being smarter than a fifteen-year-old girl is part of the job, after all."

My eyes briefly drooped in dismay at Conner's attempt to be humorous once again, but I soon dismissed it when he folded his arms back on the table and dimmed his grin down to a smile as he leaned forward a little.

"You don't have to hide anything from me, Lona. Whatever it is you want to know, you could have just told me. Don't be afraid of me just because I'm in uniform."

I was silent for a moment as I stared into Conner's pink eyes, which only prompted his smile to widen a little out of reassurance as I contemplated over his apparent offer.

"I promise, whatever it is, I'll answer honestly. You can trust me."

And yet despite his reassurances, I couldn't find myself believing him. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but something about his actions towards me didn't feel right for some reason.

' _Looks like I'm going to have to exaggerate a little. I have a feeling if I refuse to answer, he might not completely back off.'_

After staying silent for a little longer, I slowly shook my head and turned my gaze off towards the stairs.

"… It's nothing. I'm just a little worried about them. They weren't here this morning when I woke up, and I noticed a lot of things had been left lying around. Uncle and auntie aren't usually untidy, so I was a little suspicious." I paused to focus my gaze on Conner, whose smile had since faded as he stared at me with a surprised blink. My exaggeration appeared to be convincing enough. "Since you said you were an acquaintance of theirs, I was wondering if they might have said anything about where they'd went and what they were doing."

Conner sat up straight in his seat at hearing this, a wide smile of realisation appearing on his face as he did so.

" _Oh_. That makes sense. You could have just told me that from the beginning, you know! It would have saved a lot of hassle!"

I didn't react as Conner's smile dimmed a little, his eyes giving me a look that spelled out guilt.

"But I'm afraid I can't help you there. Richard and Agnes are private people. They very rarely tell me what they get up to or where they go, even though our relationship is close enough for us to be like family." He paused to furrow his brow in thought, his smile fading completely as he reached out a hand for his cup of tea. "I'm surprised they didn't tell you about where they were going, though. Considering you're their blood relative and still technically a minor, it seems strange they never told you. Not to mention with everything you've been through over the last year…"

I nodded in agreement with his last remark as I watched him pick his cup up from the coaster and put it to his lips for a second time, succeeding well in keeping the disappointment for lack of information and the annoyance of them talking about my personal life to others off my face.

' _Well, that plan was a bust. But for being 'private people', uncle and auntie seem to like gossiping about my life like it's nothing…'_

"That's why I'm worried. I assumed they must have left the cottage in a hurry and forgot to tell me. It's not like them to just up and disappear like that."

' _Which is_ _ **technically**_ _true…'_

"I shouldn't worry about them too much," Conner said, once he'd finished gulping down the rest of his tea and returned his now empty cup to the coaster. "When I last spoke to Richard, he didn't sound concerned about his problem. Everything is probably fine. You'll see."

I was silent for a moment as I processed Conner's words, but it only lasted a few seconds when he chuckled and raised a thumb to point in the direction of the stairs.

" _On an unrelated topic_ … do you mind if I use the toilet really quick?"

I was quick to shake my head, a little relieved that I was able to get temporary respite from this chatterbox. "Not at all. Just turn left and continue straight to the door at the end of the hallway."

"Much appreciated."

As I watched Conner push his chair out and stand up, my eyes were quick to lock with his phone still resting on the table and widen when he turned away and started speed-walking towards the stairs.

' _He's forgotten his phone.'_

I raised my gaze to Conner just as he was halfway up the stairs, pushing my own chair out to stand from my seat and call out to him out of instinct.

"Wait, Conner-!"

However, I covered a hand over my mouth when a sudden thought hit me, with Conner coming to a stop a couple of steps away from the second floor and turning to look at me with a confused blink.

"Yeah?"

' _What are you doing, you idiot?! You might be able to snoop through his phone to see if he's telling the truth! This isn't time for you to be a goody-two-shoes!'_

"… Ah…" I hesitated for a moment and dropped my hand away from my mouth, taking a few seconds to save myself from my blunder.

' _Give a fake excuse so he doesn't get suspicious!'_

"I- I've just remembered that I've left the cleaning supplies lying around upstairs! S-So, be careful on the way to the bathroom. W-We don't need you tripping up, after all!"

Despite having been quick on my feet with a convenient excuse, my continued stuttering made my deceit more obvious than I'd wanted.

' _Dammit, Lona! You're terrible at improvising, even with practice against your uncle!'_

But I soon discovered that my quick thinking had been lucky this time, as Conner was quick to respond with a nod and flash me a quick smile, leaving me blinking in shock as he turned away and finished his walk up the stairs and into the second floor hallway. I was worried for a second if he'd notice his phone on the table, but he appeared too distracted to take notice of that _and_ my flimsy excuse.

"I will! Thanks for the heads up!"

I waited until he'd completely disappeared around the corner before briefly closing my eyes and allowing my shoulders to slump, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

' _I can't believe that actually worked…'_

But the feeling was fleeting, as soon my eyes were open again and focusing back onto Conner's phone just opposite me. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to snoop, so hesitating wasn't an option for me.

Moving around the table until I was standing where Conner was formerly sat, I took his phone into my hands and pressed the home button to turn on the lock screen, swiping my index finger across the screen to unlock it. I raised a brow out of surprise when the phone unlocked itself and showed the home screen, having expected the password screen or the fingerprint authentication to appear instead.

' _Huh. That's odd. I would have thought a constable would take advantage of the security settings on his phone, even if that phone is for personal use and not for work…'_

I shook my head to remove the thought from my head for now, reaching out my index finger to tap on the text message app as I did so.

' _But that's not important right now. I should focus on his text messages first. Perhaps he's got a conversation between uncle or auntie that can reveal anything about where they've gone.'_

When the text message conversations loaded up onto the screen, my eyes were immediately drawn to the most recent name of the contact he'd last spoken to, only for them to droop upon reading the name 'Auntie Aggie' as the contact name. I was quick to deduce who that was without need to even think about it.

' _That's obviously auntie. Looks like he wasn't lying about his relationship with them, after all- Huh?'_

My train of thought became interrupted when I found my attention being drawn towards the preview of the last message auntie had sent to Conner, my eyes soon widening in horror upon recognising what appeared to be the beginning of a specific address. I felt my entire body freeze over as I stared at the address and read what I could see repeatedly in my head out of disbelief, hoping that this was all just a terrible nightmare I was going to wake up from soon. But I knew I couldn't deny what I was seeing. That address…

'… _That's the address of my former home.'_


	4. Chapter 4: Judgement Day

**A/N: Thank you again to those who have been reading, favouriting, and following this fanfic. Apologies for the delayed update. I've recently published a new fanfic in a different fandom and it's been getting a surprising amount of attention in comparison to the others, so my focus has been on that than this one. But I've finally managed to force myself to complete the fourth chapter after leaving it to sit on my computer for over two months. ^^' In the very least, the story is finally starting to reach its 'true beginning' if you will, so hopefully this will keep you guys occupied for now. Expect slow updates for this story, though, due to other issues aside from other updated fanfics.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Judgement Day

Despite my momentary shock at the information I'd found on Conner's phone, I quickly glanced behind me upon remembering where I was and what I was doing, my gaze locking with the top of the stairs to make sure Conner wasn't returning to the first floor. When I was able to confirm no sounds of approaching footsteps across the landing or any sight of Conner in the doorway, I switched my gaze back to Conner's phone now shaking in my trembling hands, still displaying the preview of my auntie's last text message to him.

' _ **Why**_ _does Conner have my former home address in his text messages?! And_ _ **why**_ _did auntie even text it to him in the first place?!'_

Shaking my head as a way of trying to get myself focused back on the task at hand, I touched the phone screen with a thumb to open the message conversation between auntie and Conner. Thankfully, Conner had already opened it beforehand, so he wouldn't notice I'd read it.

' _It's a little too early to be asking questions. I should probably focus on looking into this further whilst I have the chance. I won't get an opportunity like this again.'_

However, when the message opened on the screen, all I was met with was a single grey bubble with my full former home address from my auntie. There was no sign of a thread from either Conner or more responses from her. It was just that one message on its own, prompting me to blink in confusion.

' _What the…? Where are the rest of the messages? There's gotta be more here, right?'_

But after a few seconds of staring at the screen, I frowned out of annoyance when a sudden idea hit me.

' _Wait a minute. Conner's a police constable. It's likely that he's deleted the conversations between him and auntie to get rid of evidence of their communication. But_ _ **that does**_ _make me wonder why he would need to do that…'_

Reaching a hand away to the back of my head to give it a small scratch, my frown deepened as I glanced back towards the stairs once again to make sure Conner wasn't coming. When I gained the all-clear for a second time, I turned back to the phone and tapped the screen to exit the conversation, allowing my eyes to briefly scan the names of the contacts Conner had been in frequent contact with.

' _I wonder if Conner has a text conversation with uncle. I would imagine so, since he sent him that phone recording to be played to me. Maybe I should take a look to see if I can gleam anything else on the subject…'_

But by the time my eyes had moved down the list of names and located a contact name that read as 'Uncle Richie' (which caused me to shudder with disgust since I couldn't imagine my uncle and auntie having nicknames), I pressed the preview of the message and discovered a similar scenario with my aunt's messages. There was a lone, grey message bubble with a file named 'Message for Lona' attached, but there were no other messages from either uncle or Conner.

' _I should have expected that, but at least it was worth a shot…'_

Sighing in defeat and exiting out of Conner's messages, I briefly glanced back towards the stairs for the last time before locking his phone and putting it back where I found it on the table when there was no sign of him.

' _I'd better stop whilst I'm ahead. I shouldn't push my luck.'_

I frowned in thought and placed a hand under my chin, finding myself unable to stop going over everything I had uncovered in the past few minutes.

' _Still… this is all really bizarre. I mean, I'm not sure what my uncle and auntie were planning to do with my parents' home after I moved here. But because I'm not eighteen, they currently have legal ownership of the property. I could just be paranoid. Maybe uncle and auntie are thinking of selling the house to Conner or members of his family, for all I know. And yet…'_

I moved my other hand to cover my stomach as a sudden sense of dread washed over me.

'… _something in my gut is telling me otherwise. This all feels connected. Their constant trips away from the cottage, their sudden disappearance last night and forgetting to lock me in the attic, Conner's appearance here and the messages sent between him and my guardians… This can't be a coincidence.'_

My eyes widened in shock when I realised something, my gaze once again turning back towards the stairs. Conner still wasn't back yet, which raised a lot more questions for me.

' _And speaking of Conner… shouldn't he have been back from the bathroom by now? He's been gone a lot longer than I would have expected him to be. Not to mention he carelessly left his phone on the table without locking it or putting some form of security on it.'_

Glancing in the direction of the radio on the table, I moved towards it and reached out a hand to turn it off at the knob. Although reluctant to turn it off in the beginning, I thought it best to see if I could hear Conner moving around upstairs as a way of reassuring myself.

' _I can be sneaky about this. I can hear the noises from the bathroom from down here. These walls and floors aren't very thick, after all.'_

When the first floor fell into silence for the first time today, I turned towards the stairs again and focused on listening out for any noises that would indicate Conner was okay. But the longer I stared at the open doorway to the second floor of the cottage, the more tempted I became to walk up there and go check on him when silence continued to linger.

' _Now that I think about it… Conner being in cahoots with uncle and auntie makes perfect sense. They wouldn't just let any old police constable into this cottage if it meant exposing them to the crimes they've committed against me. Does that mean…?'_

Bringing my hands to my sides and balling them into fists, I forced myself to walk forward towards the stairs without another moment's hesitation.

' _I'd better make sure everything's okay. It'll help to ease my concerns. I could just be paranoid, after all.'_

"Conner?!" I called out to him as I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, feeling my fists shaking at my sides due to nerves. "Is everything okay?!"

I stood there in silence for a moment to give Conner a chance to answer, even taking the opportunity to listen out for any sounds of movement coming from upstairs. But I was unlucky with both. Conner wasn't answering and I couldn't hear any noises at all, even with the radio now off.

'… _This isn't good. I didn't want it to have to come to this, but…'_

Taking in a deep breath to prepare myself, I slowly started making my way up the stairs one step at a time, relaxing my still shaking hands to place one of them flat against the wall.

"Conner?!" I yelled his name a second time when I was halfway up the stairs, continuing my way to the second floor despite feeling my knees shaking underneath me. "Hello?! Are you there?!"

I was met with complete silence again, which lasted right until I found myself on the top step of the stairs. I glanced around the doorway into the hallway of the second floor, seeing the dustpan and brush I'd left in the entrance to the attic stairs undisturbed. However, the same couldn't be said about the little dust pile I'd compiled from my earlier sweeping, seeing it scattered in all directions across the wooden floor with faint, grey footprints that were too big to be my own. They appeared to be heading further into the hallway in the direction of the bedrooms and the bathroom.

' _Those must be Conner's footprints. We're the only two who have been upstairs since I started sweeping. It's highly unlikely someone's broken in…'_

Straightening out my back a little as a way of giving myself the courage to continue forward, I slowly started to step towards the doorway and paused so I could lean around the doorframe and peek into the hall, all whilst keeping myself concealed a little bit. Gripping the wooden frame, I focused my gaze in the direction the footprints had chosen to go in.

The first thing I noticed when glancing in the direction of the bathroom door was that it was wide open. There was no sign of Conner anywhere, and no indication that the bathroom had been used, either. From where I was standing, everything appeared to be where I'd left it after using it this morning. It hadn't been disturbed.

The second thing I was quick to notice was that the broom I'd left leaning against the wall beside the bedroom door of my uncle and auntie was missing. I hadn't been upstairs since Conner had knocked on the door, so already this was another red flag. However, neither of these things prompted a visible reaction out of me.

It wasn't until I thought I saw something off with the bedroom door as well that I dared to stand up straight and move into the hallway so I could get a better look. My eyes widened in horror and I came to a dead stop when I saw the bedroom door was wide open, with the dusty footprint trail leading straight into the room across the threshold. Although I wasn't an intellectual, I'd become observant enough to realise when there were certain things amiss. And by looking at this scene alone, I'd already come up with a hunch as to what was going on.

'… _Conner's taken the broom and gone into uncle's and auntie's bedroom.'_

Feeling the palpitations in my chest, my mind was already screaming at me to run. But my legs felt heavy all a sudden, keeping me anchored in place as my gaze stayed locked to the open doorway. There was something really wrong about this whole situation, and yet my curiosity was currently outweighing my survival instincts. I wanted to know what Conner was up to, believing it to be somehow connected to everything I'd uncovered so far.

With those thoughts in mind, I started to take slow and cautious steps towards the open doorway of my uncle's and auntie's bedroom, hunching my shoulders in preparation to turn and flee if it was needed. Each step that took me closer to the door caused the palpitations to worsen, eventually spreading to my ears by the time my hands at my sides clenched into fists. This was often a feeling I got whenever I disobeyed my uncle, so I was able to ignore it for the most part.

My whole body was shaking by the time I found myself standing in the doorway to the bedroom. I'd never gone into uncle's and auntie's bedroom before now, so I found myself becoming distracted at the surroundings. The room had a simple layout, with a double bed in plain, white sheets placed in the centre and a small wooden bedside table placed on either side along with two wooden wardrobes. But what eventually caught my eye was something placed in front of the headboard at the foot of the bed; a pair of black shoes. And coincidentally, this is where the dust footprints happened to stop.

I wanted to step forward into the room and get a closer look at those shoes, as if they were Conner's why he'd removed them confused me. But my mind had other ideas…

' _What are you doing?! You need to run! This is clearly suspicious!'_

The little voice in the back of my head was right. As strange as everything seemed, it was becoming clear to me that there was something odd about this whole set-up; like Conner was trying to lure me into uncle's and auntie's bedroom for some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on…

"…"

After standing there and staring at Conner's shoes for a moment longer, my adrenaline finally kicked in. I was able to pull myself away and force my legs to move, turning and running back down the hallway towards the stairs. I'd seen enough. I didn't know where I was going to go or what I was going to do from here. But in that moment I knew only one thing.

' _I can't trust Conner. I need to get out of here.'_

And my suspicions were soon confirmed. By the time I'd reached the stairs begun my descent, I heard charging footsteps hurrying after me from the hallway. And they were gaining on me fast.

Without looking behind me I reached the bottom of the stairs and made my dash for the door, my breathing growing loud and heavy in my panic. I didn't need to see who was chasing me. It was already too obvious.

' _Come on-! You're nearly there-!'_

I held my hand out as the gap between me and the door started to close, preparing to reach out for the handle so I could pull it open without any hassle. However, everything changed when I felt something hard strike me in the back of the head. The next thing I knew, I fell towards the floor and my vision went black the moment I hit the ground.

* * *

I couldn't remember much after that. I found myself falling in and out of consciousness from there, and I wasn't able to properly process what was happening or where I was. During the times I was conscious, though, I recalled being in darkness and unable to move, feeling my arms stuck together behind my back and the back of my head throbbing. I was lying on my side every time, and it seemed like I stayed in that position each time I regained temporary consciousness. There were times where I thought I could hear a car engine in the background, with my body occasionally moving around whenever I felt a bump underneath me or a turn. There even came a point where everything fell silent, and I thought I heard a car door opening and slamming closed before quickly losing consciousness again.

It felt like a while before I finally regained permanent consciousness, allowing me to open my eyes and properly start to process my surroundings. Unfortunately, I still found myself met with darkness, as I could feel something across the front of my eyes that was tied around my head. But unlike before I could feel that I was sitting up and leaning against something behind me. I assumed it was probably a wall. My arms were still pressed together against my back, the back of my head still throbbed a bit, and I thought I could feel a light draught coming from my left. However, I wasn't able to identify anything else from there.

'… _What's going on? Where am I?'_

I tried to move my arms, only to discover that the most I could do was wriggle my shoulders around. My wrists felt like they were bound together, along with my ankles when I attempted to raise my legs.

' _I'm tied up, aren't I?'_ I paused to twist my wrists from side-to-side, feeling something rough rubbing itself against my skin. _'And it feels like it's with rope. Which means whatever is across my eyes might be acting as a blindfold…'_

My shoulders slumped at the realisation that I was currently stuck and currently had no way out of this.

' _This isn't good. How did I find myself in this mess in the first place?'_

I furrowed my brow in thought as I tried to look back on what little I could remember before I blacked out.

' _Let's see… I remember running away from Conner when he tried to lure me into uncle's and auntie's room for some reason. I was close to the door, but was hit over the head with something hard. From there, I couldn't remain conscious for long. But I do recall hearing a car engine and car doors opening and closing.'_ My frown deepened. _'I bet it was the broom. He must have knocked me unconscious with the broom.'_

I shook my head in dismay and sighed.

' _Then it's possible Conner was the one who drove me here. Wherever 'here' is…'_ I let out a quiet gasp at realising something. _'Wait a minute. Didn't Conner have my former home address on his phone? Does that mean he's-'_

I halted with my thoughts when I heard footsteps echoing faintly from my right, only to raise my head when a familiar voice followed. It sounded like the footsteps were walking up steps, as I picked up the occasional sound of a shoe sole scraping against a surface.

"Yes. I've brought her here like you asked me to. But I had to do it a little earlier than we originally planned. … Well, I had no choice. She was snooping through my phone and tried to run. She was bound to have been suspicious of me."

'… _! Conner-!'_

I continued to listen to Conner as his footsteps got closer to my location, suspecting he must have been on the phone to someone. Maybe uncle or auntie, going off his words alone.

"… I'm aware you warned me. But wouldn't I have made myself look more suspicious if I didn't place some trust in her?" There was a brief pause as the footsteps got closer to me. "… No, no! No one saw me put her in my car. … Uh-huh. … Uh-huh. … Yeah, Sis fell for the bait. She knows you're the ones who abducted him. I've told her the address of where you're supposedly living and I've lied that I'll meet her there as planned. You're going to be there waiting for her like we agreed, aren't you?"

I gaped out of shock at this, trying to process what I'd just heard as Conner fell silent for the moment.

' _Wait, what? Lure_ _ **who**_ _?! And to_ _ **where**_ _?!'_

"… Got it. And I'm still doing what we agreed for Lona, right? … Understood. Sorry again for the set-back."

Conner was silent after that, but his footsteps continued to get closer to where I was. I sat still and waited until they finally came to a stop just in front of me, leading me to assume Conner was standing there. I didn't bother trying to look in his direction, as I couldn't even see him to begin with. Instead I stared ahead in the direction I'd heard him stop in, which must have prompted him to speak.

"I see you're awake, Lona. It seems I didn't hit you hard enough to knock you out for as long as I'd wanted."

I scowled from behind my 'blindfold', despite Conner not being able to see it. Even in my current predicament, he was still attempting to be humorous…

"… Where are we, Conner?" I asked, my tone calm.

I was scared, but for now it sounded like my anger at the situation was helping to keep my head straight.

I heard Conner snort in amusement.

"For someone who's just been kidnapped, I'm surprised you're acting so calm. Although I suppose it's because you know who your kidnapper is."

"Don't dodge the question. Are we in my old house? You do know my former address, after all."

I heard Conner let out a quiet huff from somewhere above me.

"My, my, you really are a cautious one. I regret not listening to their warning properly. But there's nothing I can do about it."

I flinched in surprise and gasped when I felt a pair of hands grab my upper-arms and lift me from the floor.

"As much as I would like to tell you where you are, I think it's best you wait and see. Who knows?" He paused as I felt myself being pressed against what I assumed was one of his shoulders, along with feeling his arm wrapped around my back and my legs dangling down his front. "You might recognise it straight away when I take off your blindfold."

I gritted my teeth when I felt Conner start to move and heard him begin to walk down another set of stairs. I was beginning to suspect we were currently in a stairwell.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing you need to worry your little blonde head about. You'll find out soon enough."

I stayed quiet as Conner exited the first set of stairs, only to speak up again when he ended up on a second set (from what I could tell based on the sounds and motions he made whilst walking). Normally, I wasn't so talkative. But now that his friendly façade had seemingly dropped, I was hoping to pry more answers out of him.

"… You never were a real police constable, were you?"

I heard Conner chuckle in amusement. Unlike before, though, this chuckle came out darker than I would have liked, sending a chill down my spine.

"I'm an _ex_ -constable, actually. But kudos to you for not completely trusting me from the beginning. Did you see through my act _that_ easily?"

"I was still somewhat suspicious of you. But I know Uncle and Auntie well enough that they have enough common sense to not let an actual policemen into their home. _Especially_ when they're not there to stop me from exposing their abuse and neglect. You must have been aware of their treatment towards me as well for them to have trusted you like that."

"So, do you think they're the reason you're here?"

"I had a feeling they might have had something to do with this." I paused to smile out of triumph. "But thank you for the confirmation."

' _I should be surprised by this, but considering there's a possibility they're connected to that cult leader…'_

"… Oops. Guess I walked right into that one, huh?" Conner said with a slight laugh, causing my smile to fade as we headed down yet another set of stairs, based on the sounds I could hear and the feeling of the motion of Conner turning. "It's a shame you couldn't have done the same back at the cottage. If only you'd walked straight into my trap… I could have just taken you down with chloroform. But because you went snooping through my phone and grew too cautious, I had to go to 'Plan B'."

My eyes narrowed under the blindfold.

"… You saw that, huh?"

"Of course. I never planned on leaving the room and setting everything up like that. But I had to when I caught you looking through it."

"That was your own fault. You shouldn't have left your phone with a curious fifteen-year-old girl, _let alone_ leave it unlocked."

"… Yeah. I suppose that wasn't the best idea on my side. You fooled me too well. And yet you listened to your gut too late."

"I guess we both screwed up, then."

"Agreed."

I'd lost count now with how many flights of stairs we'd been walking down, but after hearing and feeling Conner start going down yet another set I continued to try to keep him talking.

"What have Uncle and Auntie told you to do with me?"

"I can't tell you that, I'm afraid. But not to worry." Conner paused when I heard him step off the stairs and stop still, making me assume that was the last flight of stairs we'd gone down. "You're going to find out soon. Just not from me."

My breath hitched in my throat.

"What are you talking about?" I asked with fear finally seeping into my voice.

"You'll see soon enough…"

That was all Conner chose to say, slightly mirroring his words from before with a twist. He went silent when I heard a door knob being turned and the squeak of a door opening in front of us, prompting me to finally start wriggling around to attempt to escape Conner's grip as he started walking into whatever room he was bringing me to. I didn't know what was going on, and I certainly didn't want to know.

My wriggling proved useless, however, as Conner had a pretty strong grip on me, and was clearly much stronger than me in general. I stood no chance regardless, as my strength (coupled with my height of five foot three inches against his extra few inches) wasn't a good combination for any situation like this.

I was persistent, though, continuing to struggle even when Conner stopped walking and lifted me from his shoulder.

"Struggle all you want, Lona," he said in a calm tone, causing me to fall still when he placed me down on the floor in a sitting position. "Your fate is inevitable no matter what you do."

' _He's starting to sound a lot like uncle now…'_

I felt Conner reach his hands to either side of my head to pull the blindfold away, causing me to briefly squint as light from behind him blinded me for a few seconds.

"You just sit there and listen, alright? Hopefully, I'll see you later. Depending on how far you get…"

I blinked a few times to straighten out my vision just as I heard Conner start to walk away, just about catching sight of his back as he exited the room and started pulling the door closed behind him.

'… _How far I get? What does that mean?!'_

"Get back here, Conner! What's going to happen to me?! _Conner_!"

But I never got an answer. By the time I saw and heard the door close (followed by the click of the lock from the other side), I found myself sitting in darkness once again with no idea where I was.

Within seconds of hearing Conner's dying footsteps walking away from the room, my adrenaline kicked in almost immediately. Shifting my position so I was sitting sideways, I grunted as I moved my ankles and wrists around to try to loosen or even break free from my rope restraints. I didn't even bother to look around the room and try to work out where I could have been. It was too dark and in my current state I wouldn't have been able to turn on any lights (should there have been any there that worked). All I could do for now was act off instinct and fear of the unknown.

' _Come on, come on! I need to get out of here!'_

However, no sooner had I started, the sound of static coming from the left side of the room prompted me to stop and turn my head in its direction.

"Hello there, Lona Rivers," a deep yet young male-sounding voice spoke as if through a microphone, causing my body to stiffen at hearing my name. "It's nice to finally meet you after all these years of waiting."

I was speechless at this revelation, feeling my body growing paralysed with fear every second as the direness of my situation slowly started to sink in.

'… _Oh no… What have I gotten myself into?'_

There was a slight hint of excitement in his tone of voice despite his attempts to sound professional, prompting me to gulp quietly and continue to listen to what he had to say.

"You don't know me, but I've certainly heard a lot about you from two specific people. I believe you're acquainted with them. Or rather… _related_ to them."

My eyes drooped at this.

' _Uncle and auntie, no doubt…'_

"But I digress!" The voice continued, followed by a light-hearted sounding chuckle of amusement. "I'm sure you're dying to know why you're here. Although… you might already have an idea as to why."

I frowned at his words out of suspicion.

' _What does he mean?'_

"You see, Lona, this building you're in belongs to me. It's _my kingdom_ , and, as I am this kingdom's _one and only creator_ , I'm basically its 'god'."

'… _Wait, what?'_

"And as 'god', I am granted the authority to do whatever I want. But more importantly, it's my duty as a creator to remove those who are unworthy to live in the society our leader wishes to create; _sinners_ , as many call them." My eyes widened in alarm at this, quickly catching on before he gave me the answer. "Which is why you've been brought to me. It's been pointed out that you harbour traits of what we would class as a 'sinner'. As such, it is my job to bestow judgement upon you in this very building."

Those words were more than enough to get me talking again, albeit in a shaky voice that clearly betrayed my fear regarding the situation.

" _B-Bestow judgement_?! W-What kind of 'judgement'?!"

Unfortunately, my questions were ignored.

"And based on what I've been told, I'm a little conflicted, admittedly. Society deems you a 'demon-spawn'. Most who have looked upon your blood-coloured eyes have seen the selfishness and deceit that lies behind them from a mere glance; acts that you have displayed around your relatives very recently, I've been informed."

I growled in annoyance at his accusations.

' _Selfishness?! Deceit?! Excuse me?! Uncle and auntie have to be the ones who told him that…'_

" _However_ … you were once a believer of God, weren't you?" I fell quiet at this. "A kind natured and forgiving person, too, so I hear. But you lost faith shortly after the death of your parents, correct?"

"…?! How do you know about that?!" I yelled at the unknown voice without thinking or having time to stop myself, prompting an amused chuckle to follow in response.

"There's no need to get defensive, Lona. I've already told you how, haven't I?"

I scowled at the left side of the room.

' _You made that very clear…'_

"So, as you can imagine, you have evidence both for and against you. Under different circumstances, I would have condemned you to your fate immediately. But luckily we have other ways of being able to make a decision for people like you…"

The sound of rattling pipes had me turning my head towards the right side of the room, which was quickly accompanied by loud hissing.

"You'll be given an explanation regarding that _very soon_. Until then, Lona… _sweet dreams_ ~."

' _That noise…'_

It didn't take a genius to work out what that noise was indicating.

' _Are they trying to gas me?!'_

But I wasn't planning on hanging around in order to find out if I was right. Instead, I shifted the position of my legs and started trying to shuffle myself across the floor in the direction of the door. The darkness in the room shielded the gas from view, so I couldn't see how quickly it was filling up the area. All I could do was try to get to the door before it got into my lungs.

' _I'm not dying here! No way!'_

I wasn't sure of how far I'd gotten, despite following the sight of the light shining in from under the door as a guide. So by the time my head started to feel heavy and my eyes drooped from the sudden drowsiness I felt, I ended up coming to a stop however far I'd managed to get when a strong smell I couldn't identify fully hit me. Before I could make sense of what was happening, I felt my body fall towards the floor and saw my vision go black almost instantly.


	5. Chapter 5: Welcome to the Game

**A/N: _So_... long time no see. The last few months have been quite hectic, from health issues to other responsibilities taking priority. But I've finally managed to muster up enough muse to get this next chapter done. I'll admit, I was surprised to see how many people flocked to this fanfic after I posted the last chapter. It's nice to see this story getting some recognition. So, thank you to those who have been following and favouriting. ^^ This chapter turned out to be a lot shorter than I hoped it would, primarily because I struggled to find a good place where it could cut off and lead into the next part. So... I apologise if this chapter appears rushed and unsatisfying for some. Continuing it onto the next floor didn't seem right to me. But I hope you enjoy it anyway! Depending on how strong my muse is, I'll update as soon as I can (after sorting out my other two fanfics, of course...).**

* * *

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Game

The first thing I registered when I finally woke up was a persistent soreness and stinging sensation in my left cheek. Out of instinct I raised a hand to cover it, only to cry out in pain and retract my hand when my fingers touched my skin. It was painful to touch, to the point where I felt my eyes begin to water a little bit.

' _Ow, ow, ow…'_

After a few seconds of lying on my side, everything that had happened before I'd blacked out quickly came back to me; Conner leaving me in a strange room, an unknown voice who knew too much about me talking over a speaker, and...

' _My hands-! They're free!'_

They were no longer restrained by rope, and neither were my ankles, which I soon discovered when I dared to twist my feet from side to side. The area I was in was still in darkness, but the hissing of pipes convinced me I hadn't been moved from my previous location; I was most likely still in the same room I'd passed out in. The only difference now appeared to be the light I'd seen coming from under the door. It wasn't there anymore.

' _How long was I out for?'_

It was a pointless question that I didn't bother to answer and brushed aside, instead deciding to take advantage of my new freedom to finally push myself to stand.

' _Doesn't matter. I need to get out of here.'_

After the incident with Conner, I knew better than to hang around and wait for what was to happen next. I needed to leave and find help as soon as possible.

Holding my right hand out as a guide and moving forward one step at a time, I decided to move in the direction of the door. When I felt my hand touch a wooden surface, I stopped still and brushed my palm across it until I flinched at coming into contact with the cold metal of the door handle.

' _Aha!'_

Taking a chance, I pulled the handle down without a second thought, my eyes widening in surprise when I heard a click. _It was open_.

I wondered for a moment if someone had come in whilst I was unconscious and purposely left the door unlocked (my cheek was still stinging at this point, and I doubted I'd hurt myself before I passed out), but I shook my head to rid myself of the thought.

' _No time for distractions. I need to go.'_

Shoving the door open with my arm, I ran out into the darkness and up the set of stairs laid out before me, not daring to glance back at the room I'd escaped out of. I shivered at feeling the air around me grow cool all of a sudden as I continued my dash up the next set of stairs, recalling hearing Conner bringing me down multiple steps as we'd talked on the way to that room. I wasn't sure of where I was going, nor could I remember how many stairs he'd gone down. However, in my mind, I knew the only logical course of action was to follow the stairs for the time being and see where they led, even if it meant I'd run into trouble on the way. After all, I wasn't sure if Conner and the unknown person I'd spoken to were the only enemies I had aside from my uncle and auntie, and whether any of them were lingering around somewhere waiting to pounce on me. For all I knew, I could have been heading into a trap. But it wasn't like I cared. My emotions currently had a hold over my common sense.

It wasn't long before I could see a dim glow of light when I reached what I assumed was likely the last flight of stairs going down, and the thought of me reaching an exit pushed my adrenaline enough to increase the speed of my run for what I was sure was the final stretch, even though my limbs were already giving up on me and trying to make me stop with their insistent aches; I was never an athletic kid…

' _Come on! You're almost there!'_

However, when I finally stumbled to a stop at the top of the stairs, my hopes were soon dashed by the sight I came upon. It was obvious that the area I'd reached was most likely the first floor of the building; there was another flight of stairs on the far-left side of the area that went up, with what appeared to be a metal lift close by it that was blocked off with construction tape, all of which I could see thanks to the lamps hanging on the walls. But when I took notice of the two entrance doors ahead of me, they were both boarded up and sealed together with a chain and padlock on the inside.

I'd clearly underestimated my kidnappers; they were determined to give me some form of false hope. I honestly didn't know what I was expecting at this point…

'… _No way…'_

Staring at the doors in disbelief I began to approach them slowly at first, my legs trembling with each step I took. After a few steps I broke out into a jog, stopping before the locked doors and banging my fists repeatedly against the wood. It was a useless last attempt of overcoming this obstacle, but it wasn't like I had any other options.

"Help! Is anyone out there?!" I yelled as loudly as I could, continuing to make as much noise as physically possible. The soreness of my cheek worsened because I was speaking aloud, but I chose to ignore it. "If there's someone there, please help me! I'm trapped inside this building!"

My yelling and banging went on for a minute more before my hands started to ache and my shaking legs forced me to stop. I wasn't getting any response from the other side. I was just acting out of desperation now. There wasn't anyone out there, and I knew it.

" _Please_ …! _Anyone_ …!"

My voice finally broke when my legs caved in and I dropped to the floor on my knees, feeling the tears finally welling up in my eyes. I covered my hands over my face and started to cry, the reality of my situation finally sinking in. All the while my left cheek consistently stung whenever my tears touched it, but I wasn't concerned about that right now. I was trapped in this place, and it was all because of the two people I was supposed to put my trust in.

' _I knew uncle and auntie were horrible people. But to think they would go so far as to have an acquaintance of theirs kidnap me and trap me in this place… How could they…?'_

The words of the unknown speaker came to mind as I continued to cry into my hands, ignoring the tears now streaming down my face.

' _That voice… He said he'd been waiting for me for years. He heard everything about me from uncle and auntie. And some of that information was a little too personal.'_ My eyes widened behind my hands when I realised something. _'Which means… they must have been planning this from the start…'_

I dropped my trembling hands into my lap. I wasn't a smart person, but I had enough common sense to find links between things, at least. I knew very little about my uncle and my auntie because my parents had never spoken to me about them. I'd only ever heard information about them if I happened to accidentally eavesdrop on their conversations, including the comments about the man 'Abraham Gray'. All they'd openly told me was that my paternal relatives were dangerous and that I should never speak to them if they ever tried to reach out to me. This was the reason why they were left out of my parents' wills as potential legal guardians. Being stuck with them for a year made me realise just how right my parents had been, and yet… thinking about it now… everything that had happened since my parents' deaths had been almost too convenient for me.

'… _!'_

The tears in my eyes got worse when a nasty thought suddenly occurred to me, a shaky hand reaching to cover my chest.

' _Please don't tell me… they had something to do with my parents' deaths…'_

It sounded ridiculous, almost like I was grasping at straws. And yet those two seemed like the perfect fit if I considered the idea that they'd wanted me in this situation from the start. They had a motive, and their relationship with my parents had always been rocky. Not to mention the deaths had happened not long after my maternal relatives had left the country, and by that time my grandparents had already passed on…

The idea made me feel sick, prompting me to hunch over and cover my other hand over my mouth.

' _Did they do all of this just to gain custody of me…? Have I… been living under the roof of my parents' killers this whole time…?'_

"What's with the tears, Lona~?" The male voice from before addressed me in a mocking tone somewhere above my head, prompting me to raise my gaze to the ceiling and bring me away from my thoughts. "You didn't think you were going to get out of here _that easily_ , did you? I did mention you were currently under my judgement."

I gritted my teeth in anger and pushed myself to stand, my gaze remaining locked on the ceiling despite dabbing at my remaining tears with my jacket sleeve.

" _You_ …! You know what happened to my parents, don't you?!"

I screamed my question without thinking first, prompting momentary silence between me and the voice. Eventually, I heard a low chuckle.

"How presumptuous. You don't have a right to be asking questions like that in your current situation. Don't forget who you're talking to."

" _I don't care_! You know what happened to them! And so do Uncle and Auntie! You all had something to do with it!"

The male voice waited a few seconds before responding.

"Is that what you think? Why would you come to such a sudden conclusion?"

"Because I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't true, right?!" I pointed a finger in accusation at the ceiling, struggling to locate the exact place the voice was coming from in the dim lighting offered by the area. "You said you've been waiting for me for years! That has to mean this was planned from the beginning!"

Silence fell in between us for a while. By the time I'd lowered my arm back to my side, though, I was left gaping when I heard full-blown laughter coming from the voice. It took me by surprise, and also took a while for the speaker to calm down. But when he regained his composure, his tone of voice turned rather venomous.

"As much as I take delight in your foolish attempts to quell your suffering, I refuse to answer any questions you have. I suggest you watch your words from now on, Lona Rivers. Your life is currently in my hands, and any further outbursts could result in me deciding your fate _right here and now_. Are we clear?"

"…"

My body was still shaking with anger at this point, and there was so much more I wanted to say. But I knew he was right. I'd let my emotions get the better of me, to the point where I was becoming much more reckless and rebellious than what I was used to. Any further slandering and defiance against this unknown person could result in my death, and if I ever wanted to find out the truth behind my parents' deaths… I needed to get out of here alive.

After a moment of silence I let out a quiet sigh and relaxed my tense body, giving a nod to show I understood and mumbled a 'whatever' loud enough for him to hear. I just had to do what I did with my uncle; just be compliant until I could find a loophole out of this mess.

" _Thank you for your compliance_ ," the voice eventually said, prompting me to remain quiet and listen as he continued. "With that out of the way… I'd like to ask a question of my own before we begin." I scowled but said nothing. "Does this place look familiar to you, Lona? It should do, since I've been informed you spent most of your childhood here…"

I frowned in confusion and gave a quick glance towards the area I was standing in. Now that he mentioned it…

It took a few seconds before I realised what he was talking about, my mouth dropping open in shock. It wasn't obvious at first due to the faded walls and floor (and the fact it was dark down in the room I'd been locked in originally), but getting a good look at the layout finally brought it back to me.

"This place… Is it my old flat…?" I asked in disbelief, my head turning towards the stairs I'd come up earlier. "Which means that room I was in before… was the boiler room?"

It explained the sudden change in temperature the moment I'd left the room. But I soon found my eyes widening in realisation when I recalled the voice mentioning something about the building belonging to 'him'…

' _Wait. Does that mean he's the one who bought this building…? His voice makes him sound like he'd be too young to have done that around the time my family had moved out, though…'_

"You never noticed until now? _Interesting_ …" My gaze returned to the ceiling when the voice spoke, frowning at the latter remark. "So, your earlier questions were asked on a gut instinct, then…"

I wanted to retaliate, but I chose to keep my mouth shut at remembering my place. I had to watch my words. Instead I decided to speak in my thoughts, especially at recalling seeing my second and former home address in Conner's text messages.

' _My suspicions have to be right. They must have planned this from the beginning if I've been placed in the building where my first home was. This isn't a coincidence, surely…'_

"Well, no matter," My focus returned to the speaker when he brushed off his earlier remarks. "At least you can put that information to good use. It'll give you an advantage that the others didn't have…"

' _The others?'_ I frowned out of caution, recalling my earlier suspicions of my paternal relatives being linked to the cult. They were on a whim, but it was obviously proven to be true now... _'And I thought this is as worse as it was going to get…'_

I was starting to feel drained with all the information and theories I was attempting to digest and process, but I kept my best attention out for the speaker as he continued.

"In order to properly judge you and determine your fate, we're going to play a little game~…" I flinched at the chill that ran down my spine; I didn't like where this was going. "And while it might sound easy enough… I'm sure you know by now that it won't be."

' _ **Naturally**_ _…'_ I rolled my eyes.

"The building has been renovated since you were last here. So, for your convenience, there is a piece of paper with the rules of the game and a hand mirror waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs."

I turned to the stairs in question, where I could see the two mentioned objects resting on the bottom step.

' _A hand mirror? What do I need that for?'_

"Considering you will likely find your way around without need of further direction, I shall wish you luck in your endeavours, Lona Rivers. Let's see how far you'll get~…"

As silence fell around the area for good this time, I shook my head and made my way over to the stairs going up to the next floor. I still wasn't sure of what this whole thing meant, but I was hoping the rules would shed some light on this already bleak situation.

Having approached the bottom step of the stairs, I immediately reached for the wooden hand mirror and held it up to my face, deciding to use it to see what was wrong with my left cheek and why it kept stinging.

However, I almost dropped it out of shock when I saw my reflection, my gaze locking with my slightly swollen and red cheek. There was a strange and small pink marking in the middle of the swelling and redness, one which reminded me of a broken right half of a heart. I was tempted to touch it, but was quick to pull my hand away before I gave myself the chance to. I now understood why I'd been given the hand mirror.

' _What did they do to my face?! Is this why they left the door unlocked?! Did they come in and_ _ **mark me**_ _?!'_

My gaze briefly locked with my eyes being reflected back at me, only for them to droop in dismay at the thought of the mark most likely being permanent.

' _As if I didn't already suffer enough ridicule for my strange eye colour…'_

Eventually I huffed and sat down on the bottom step beside the paper, putting the hand mirror on my other side in favour of picking it up. It didn't take a genius to work out that the marking I'd been given was probably related to this 'game' the unknown voice wanted me to play, and there wasn't anything I could do about that mark no matter how much I stared at it. I was better off leaving it.

' _Maybe these 'rules' will add some context…'_

The piece of paper opened with the following:

' **Welcome, Sinner of Hearts.'**

I raised a brow out of confusion.

'… ' _Sinner of Hearts'? Odd. But that explains the strange mark on my cheek.'_

Reading the introduction made me think about card suits; hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs. I remember Papa once telling me how much my Uncle and Auntie had been into gambling before they converted to Christianity; I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd had some say in the design of this 'game'.

I went back to reading the paper.

' **Under the watchful eyes of our beloved king and ruler, you are charged with the crime of being a living embodiment of a demon-spawn and an enemy against the faithful in the world outside. Therefore, you must enter this game to prove you are worthy of salvation.'**

I rolled my eyes at the 'accusation'.

' _ **Rubbish**_ _.'_

' **To atone for your crimes against humanity, locate the keys that match your mark on each of the floors and travel to the final floor, where our king will decide your fate.'**

I picked up the hand mirror once more and held it in front of my face, daring to raise my hand to my cheek again to poke the mark with a finger. I flinched at the sting that followed, despite having expected it.

' _At least that explains the mark…'_

I put the hand mirror beside me again and returned to reading.

' **Beware the kingdom's residents who guard each floor.'**

'… ' _Residents'?'_ I frowned in confusion for a moment, quickly remembering Conner's parting words before he locked me in the boiler room.

' _ **Hopefully, I'll see you later. Depending on how far you get…'**_

' _So_ _ **that's**_ _what he meant, huh?_ _ **Good to know**_ _…'_

I continued reading.

' **They are under orders to judge any sinners they come in contact with.'**

My gaze lingered on the word 'judge' for a moment, recalling the unknown voice's earlier threat against my life.

' _I don't know what they mean by 'judge', but I'm going to assume I should stay away from anyone else in this building…'_

My gut told me those 'residents' were going to include Conner and my relatives, and that caused a shiver to run down my spine.

' _I still think they had something to do with my parents' deaths. So, my life is definitely at stake as well. Whether it is from_ _ **him**_ _or the others under his command…'_

' **Obey their laws and repent to proceed safely. May the eyes of our Lord and Saviour, as well as our king and ruler, guide you on your journey.'**

I sighed heavily and placed the instructions beside me on the stairs at reaching the end, turning to glance up to the first floor with drooped eyes. The unknown voice wasn't kidding. This _wasn't_ going to be easy.

' _Well,_ _ **that**_ _didn't clear my confusion up at all! But I think it's obvious what they're forcing me to do. I need to somehow get to the top floor of the building_ _ **alive**_ _.'_ I frowned in thought as I went over my recent conversation with the voice. _'The voice mentioned the building has been renovated since I've moved out. I suspect he was referring to the design of the floors, meaning there are still five floors in total to go through, including the last.'_

I placed a hand to my chin as I did my best to remember the flats I had grown up in, even despite knowing how young I'd been at the time. It had been a long time since I'd last stepped foot into this place, and it didn't help that most of what I could recall would likely no longer match my former surroundings. But I knew that didn't necessarily mean the layout would have changed much.

My gaze turned to the broken lift just to my right.

' _I can't use the lift to skip between the floors. And the front entrance is boarded and sealed shut. The only other option I have is to use the stair-wells, which are probably locked from the first floor upwards. There's always a chance I can use the fire escapes on each floor. But if the entrance has been sealed off, what are the odds of those being sealed off as well?'_

I groaned loudly in frustration and lowered my head, covering my face with both hands and flinching when I touched my cheek again; I kept forgetting it was still swollen.

' _I don't want to play into this person's game. But even I know my own limits. There's no way they're going to let me just stay here, especially if I somehow manage to draw someone's attention from outside.'_ I lowered my hands so my eyes could see my shoes. _'But I know I won't survive this game. I'm not smart or fast enough to avoid getting caught. I know I'll die… Which option would be worse, though? Dying as a coward, or dying at least trying to fight for my life and freedom?'_

I wasn't sure of what to think or do at this moment in time. My mind was all over the place and I felt so vulnerable, like this was going to be how my life ended; trapped in the one place where my happiest memories once were…

And then my uncle's words from yesterday started to sound inside my head.

' _ **Do you know**_ **why** _ **your parents died, Lona?'**_

I balled my hands into fists, my brow furrowing as I dared to speak my previous response to his question out loud with gritted teeth and an angry tone.

"… _Because they were killed."_

' **Yes** _ **. And do you know**_ **why** _ **they were killed, Lona?'**_

At the time I'd answered that I didn't know. But as my body trembled with my suppressed rage at this whole situation, along with my earlier suspicions, I knew I had an answer. Even if I wasn't entirely sure if it was true.

"… _It was because of you_ ," I growled under my breath, placing both of my hands to the sides of my head.

I started recalling other things my uncle had said to me that sounded similar to what I'd heard recently from the voice and what I'd read, with each one causing my body to shake more violently each time.

' _ **Because it was karma against God.'**_

' _ **He should have known from the moment you were born that you were the equivalent to a demon-spawn.'**_

' _ **You being brought to your aunt and I was part of God's will, I believe…'**_

' _ **We're trying to undo the wickedness your parents let you bask in and make you desirable in the eyes of the Lord.'**_

' _ **And by disobeying me continuously and going to see them anyway, that also makes you a sinner too, doesn't it?'**_

" _AH!_ "

I let out an angry cry and turned towards the paper on the stairs, snatching it up from the step and ripping it in half without a second thought. I had no idea if that was a good thing to do, but at this moment in time I didn't really care. Once again my rage had a stronger hold.

" _Screw you and your game_!"

I scrunched the two paper halves into one ball and threw it as far as I could go, aiming for the boarded-up and locked doors. It didn't get very far, landing only a small distance away from me because of its light weight.

' _I can't allow myself to die yet. At least until I know what happened to my parents. And if these people have something to do with it…'_ I turned to glare at the stairs in front of me. _'… they'd better be prepared to give me an answer.'_

Without thinking I was soon walking towards the stairs and up them without another word, leaving behind the hand mirror still resting on the bottom step.

' _I need to stay alive. Even if it means I need to find a loophole. Those fire exits are my best bet. So, as much as I don't want to… I'm going to have to make my way up.'_


	6. Chapter 6: The Missing Half

**A/N: I've finally managed to push the muse I needed to finish this chapter. Apologies again for the updates being so long, but my life and health have to come first, unfortunately. I also had to do a bit of research into some things to make sure what I had planned was definitely going to make sense, so... That took a bit of time too. Thank you again to those who have still been reading, following, and favouriting this fanfic, though. I'm surprised it has been getting some attention despite the odds, but your continued support is greatly appreciated. Hopefully this next chapter will get more people interested in this concept now that the game has actually started.**

 **I would also like to add that in regards to the 'fire exit' idea I had for the design of the flat... it turns out I may have screwed up a little bit. British flats don't have the designed fire escapes I had in mind for this fanfic. But since I've already brought up in the last chapter and people have already seen it, I couldn't be bothered to go back and re-write that again. Even so, I've kept it in anyway. I mean, 'Angels of Death' is fictional anyway, and it did use a lot of elements that, in hindsight, might have been exaggerated a little bit. There's no harm in me altering the design of the buildings slightly for convenience sake. XD**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Missing Half

Six upper-floors; counting the ground floor where the entrance was, I remembered that there were six floors in total to the flat I formerly lived in. Each floor was laid out more or less the same; a single corridor with doors on either side, which could be reached via the lift or the stairwell. Since the lift was currently out of order, I had no choice but to use the stair-well. The stair-well was hidden behind a door that could be accessed from the main entrance using the single set of stairs next to the lift, so that was the route I chose to stick to.

At reaching said door and slowly opening it, I paused in the doorway at feeling the nostalgia hitting me almost instantly, causing me to place a hand to my forehead and glance up at the dimly lit stairs. Memories of me running up and down this stair-well to hide from my grandpa flooded into my head, and for a few seconds my eyes stung, as if to make me cry again. However, my eyes narrowed when I noticed something odd about the stair-well through the square gap that separated the zig-zag formation of the ascending steps.

' _The stairs stop at the second floor?'_

I remembered there were two stair-wells that could be accessed from either end of each floor; one that led to the main entrance of the building, and the other which was rarely used because it was an extra fire exit. However, both stair-wells had stairs that went all the way to the sixth floor. But, obviously, that wasn't what I was currently seeing, prompting me to frown in suspicion at recalling the unknown voice's earlier words.

' _He said the building had been renovated since I was last here… Is this also what he meant by that?'_

I was certain it was.

Letting out an annoyed huff, I continued my walk towards the stairs that would lead me to the second floor, briefly flinching when I heard the door swing closed behind me with a loud echo.

' _The building must have been renovated to abide by the rules of this so called 'game'.'_

And I quickly discovered my recent thought was right when I dared to position myself beside the stairs on the first floor to get a closer look at the upper-floors. There were stairs connecting the first and second floors, and then a gap where there should have been stairs connecting the second floor to the third floor. But I was soon frowning in confusion when I noticed that there were still stairs connecting the third floor to the fourth floor.

' _What the…?'_

I jogged up the stair-well until I reached the door leading to the second floor so I could get a closer look at the remainder of the stairs above me. I probably should have proceeded with caution, but I technically wasn't part of the game yet until I stepped through that other door. So for the moment, I was sure I was fine.

Sure enough, I hadn't been seeing things. Reaching the top of the stairs confirmed that they'd removed the stairs between the second and third floors and blocked it off with a bannister, but the stairs between the third and fourth floor was still intact.

' _That must be their way of stopping their victims from dodging each floor and getting straight to the top. Which means if they've removed the stairs for the second and third floor from_ _ **this stair-well**_ _…'_ I paused and glanced at the door in front of me with drooped eyes. _'… they must have done the same to the second stair-well, too. I'm probably going to have to go through the second floor to that stair-well so I can get to the third floor, aren't I?'_

It didn't seem like a farfetched assumption, especially since I was aware that the other stair-well could only be accessed _on the other side_ of the building for each floor…

My shoulders slumped in dismay at the realisation of what I was getting myself into, and just how smart my uncle and auntie were to associate themselves with this cult. It was actually starting to worry me a little, which was only proven right when I noticed my right hand trembling slightly.

' _My suspicions have to be right, then. If they've changed the stairs, they've likely changed the design of the floors as well. Those other fire escapes must have been boarded up or had the metal stairs removed from outside the windows.'_

I growled out of frustration and clenched my hand into a fist, walking forward without another moment's hesitation.

' _I can't rule it out yet. I need to see the second floor for myself.'_

Ignoring my heart pounding against my chest and swallowing back any oncoming nausea, I grabbed the handle of the door and yanked it open.

I _immediately_ regretted it.

" _Ugh_!" I cried out at the strong smell of iron that hit me like a wave, causing me to cover my nose with both hands.

It was pitch black up ahead, so I couldn't see a thing. But based on the smell I was picking up, _I really didn't want to_. It was overwhelming.

I glanced down towards the floor being illuminated by the dim-lighting from the stairwell behind me, frowning at the sight of-

' _Cobble stones? But the floors for each corridor had carpet!'_

I took a step forward into the room and stomped my foot down to make sure they were real cobble stones. Not only did it feel hard underneath my shoe, but it also released a quiet echo following my stomp. It was real stone.

' _No way… They've changed the floors too?'_

I stood there in confusion and shock for a few seconds until I once again recalled the 'rules' and some of the things the voice had said to me.

' _ **Kingdom**_ _… The voice said he was the 'king' of this 'kingdom', didn't he? And the 'kingdom's residents' are on each floor, apparently.'_ I stared ahead into the darkness, my brow furrowing in thought. _'So does that mean… these 'renovations' were made to turn this flat into his 'kingdom' for the game?'_

I knew I couldn't be sure of anything at the moment without any proof, but my theories were all I had to rely on. Especially since my former memories of this place weren't going to be as helpful as I thought they would be…

I was starting to regret my decision. Still, all I could do for now was push onward.

I gave the entrance to the room a quick glance for anything I could use to find my way through the dark, leading me to find something glowing hanging on the wall just off to my right.

' _A lantern…'_

I slowly and quietly pulled the door closed and moved closer to the light source. I didn't want to alert the person who was supposed to be on this floor of my presence for as long as I could. I was hoping it would give me an advantage for the time being. I also noted that the area which should have been the corridor of the second floor was wider than I remembered, which further indicated the design of the floor had probably been altered.

I got a closer look at the lantern as I lifted it from the metal hook in the wall. There was an oval-shaped bulb inside the glass.

' _Must be an electric one. That explains why it's a little dim. Still, it'll do for now.'_

I held the lantern out in front of me to illuminate the entrance way, hoping to get my bearings and make sure I didn't miss anything in the dark. I eventually saw a piece of paper sellotaped to the inside of the door, prompting me to move a little closer to get a better look. I picked up the faint smell of ink from it and saw something had been written on it. The paper said the following:

' **Don't steal from the Executioner.'**

' _Executioner?'_ I felt a lump form in my throat when I mentally pictured a medieval-like person in a black hood. It was the only image I could associate it with, and it was making my stomach churn more than that lingering iron smell… _'Please don't tell me that's who occupies this floor…'_

I was seriously hoping it wasn't.

I swallowed at feeling the nausea beginning to crawl up my throat and turned away from the door to the room ahead of me, preparing myself to go forward. I couldn't deny I wasn't scared, but I knew I couldn't stay here.

' _It'll be fine, Lona.'_ I took a slow and shaky step forward. _'You just need to get your bearings. Then you can locate the fire escapes.'_ And then another. _'You can boycott this game. You don't have to play it.'_

By the time I was walking at a cautious but okay pace, my whole body was trembling out of fear and denial. But I tried to ignore it by repeating my 'mantra' in my head and taking deep breaths. I aimed to be as quiet as I could, but my shoes still made some noise with the occasional echoes that followed with each of my steps. I couldn't stop, but I also didn't want to alert the floor's resident of my presence. I didn't know where they were hiding, after all, and the darkness gave them more of an advantage than it did for me.

The further I walked into the area, however, the more I started to realise how much had changed in terms of 'decoration'. On either side of me, I found myself passing black bars in front of small, empty rooms that resembled medieval prison cells; the ones that apparently existed in castles. It helped to fuel my wild idea of this 'executioner' being the resident of this floor, so I was preparing for the possibility of someone in black clothing jumping out at me with a large axe. The iron smell was also getting stronger, forcing me to lift the collar of my t-shirt up over my nose. It was sickening.

Eventually I reached the other end of the path I had taken, being met with a stone wall straight ahead with two wooden arrow signs attached, each pointing in the direction of the two diverging hallways on either side of me. The wooden sign on the left had ' _Torture Chamber_ '. The wooden sign on the right had ' _Dungeon'_.

My eyes drooped in dismay.

' _I had a feeling I would be forced into decision making sooner or later… It looks like I can't walk straight to the stair-well. I have to bypass obstacles first.'_

I lifted my nose away from my shirt for a few seconds to sniff at the air, deciding to go with my gut and head in the direction _away_ from that smell. I found myself being drawn to the left corridor when it came to the smell, so it seemed correct to go down the right corridor instead.

I briefly glanced back towards the other prison cells I'd passed before making my way down the right corridor. I couldn't help but wonder what those prison cells by the entrance were for if there was a dungeon room down this corridor. But I hoped I never had to find out.

As I started to follow the corridor along, I could see a faint light up ahead from behind a partially opened door, which stopped me in my tracks. Was someone in there? Had I made a wrong turn?

I dared to glance at the left corridor behind me, finding it to be dark with no other light source about. I could normally trust my gut in these situations to guide me the right way, but now I wasn't so sure which way was right. I was aware someone was lurking on this floor, but not which room they were hiding in.

' _Dammit. Which way do I go?'_ I gave both corridors a quick glance again in my indecisive state. _'If I go to the 'torture chamber', they could get me in the dark. But the 'dungeon' could also be a trap. Who wouldn't instinctively go towards a room where there's light?!'_

It was bad enough I was in a situation where I was fighting for my life. But not being able to rely on my gut anymore…?

I raised a shaking hand to my chest, feeling myself close to the verge of tears… And then I heard the door to the second floor get yanked open.

"…?!"

My eyes widened as I glanced behind me in pure terror, feeling my body freezing up when the door was then slammed closed. An aggressive female-sounding voice echoed from the entrance.

" _You bastards_! _Where is she_?!"

My adrenaline kicked in almost automatically and made my decision for me; I darted for the door to the dungeon room without another moment's hesitation, with the lantern still in hand.

' _That must be the floor's resident! I need to hide!'_

I ran into the room and pulled the door to as quickly as I could, stopping still and listening to the footsteps from the new arrival running up the corridor. It was possible the woman would have heard me running to this room, so I put the lantern down by the door and looked around for somewhere to hide. I was met with empty and open prison cells. There was nowhere for me to go.

' _Oh god.'_

"Show yourself, coward!"

The moment I heard the woman's voice at the other end of the corridor, I panicked and stumbled to the left to press my back against the wall. I closed my eyes and covered my mouth with both hands to muffle my heavy breathing, feeling my whole body beginning to tremble with fear. My knees were close to knocking together by the time I heard the woman stomping in my direction, my heart now pounding to the rhythm of her rage.

' _This is it. I'm going to die.'_

This was the first time I had felt legitimate fear, and it made me want to burst into tears and beg for my life the louder and closer this woman was getting. I was actually close to dropping to my knees and praying to the deity I had since chosen to cast out of my life; a habit I had always done when I was lost and didn't know who else to turn to.

"You're going to regret your life choices when I _finally_ get my hands on you!"

' _I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please…!'_

My eyes opened when the sound of a slicing blade echoed from the corridor, causing the footsteps to stop. There was silence for a few seconds before I heard the woman let out a low growl, her stomping resuming and heading _away_ from the dungeon room. I remained where I was until I heard the door to the 'torture chamber' slam shut, by which time I wasn't able to remain quiet or composed any longer.

Feeling tears of relief gathering in my eyes, I dropped down onto my knees on the stone floor and moved my shaking hands to my chest, quietly sobbing as I attempted to pull myself together. I was feeling a mixture of emotions, but I was at least _very glad_ to have escaped what was a close call. My heart seemed to agree, given how bad I was feeling it pound against my chest, like it was trying to escape.

I gave the prison cells around me another glance while I was trying to gather my senses. The room I was in was quite spacious, showing a lot of open cells with no occupants. The light source I'd seen from outside turned out to be from electric lamps lining parts of the walls in between each cell, meaning for the time being I didn't need the lantern. It also definitely appeared to be a dead end, meaning I would have to head in the direction of the 'torture chamber' room if I wanted to find where the other stair-well was.

I ended up being drawn to something glistening in one of the cells closest to where I was knelt. Wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket I stood and made my way over towards the opened doorway, reaching out for the item on the stone floor and bringing it close to my face in my palm with a shocked blink.

It was a necklace depicting a golden religious cross on a thin golden chain.

I frowned in thought and tilted my palm closer to the dim lighting in the room, slowly beginning to feel my adrenaline high wearing off.

' _That voice implied there were others who came before me in this game. I wonder if this belongs to one of them…'_ My thoughts trailed off when I remembered what the note at the entrance to the floor had said, my brows raising. _'Wait. What if this belongs to the Executioner? Wouldn't I be ignoring the note's instructions?'_ I narrowed my eyes at the cross. _'Then again, if this_ _ **did**_ _belong to them, wouldn't it be placed somewhere a little more obvious?'_

I wasn't sure what to think any more.

I let out an annoyed huff and decided it was best to hold onto this for now, looking down towards my jacket pockets as this decision crossed my mind. They were shallow and lacked zips, so putting the necklace in there would mean I was likely to lose it, especially if I found myself in a chase. I knew my only other option was to actually wear the necklace, prompting me to unclasp the chain and put it around my neck, tilting my head to the side to keep my hair out of the way whilst I fastened it again.

' _I don't like the idea of wearing someone else's property. But it's safer around my neck than in my pockets. Plus, I'd feel bad about leaving it behind. Even if it's unlikely that I'll ever meet the original owner…'_

I flicked my hair back over my shoulders and slowly started walking around between each cell, giving each one a thorough look over. I knew I couldn't linger around here for much longer, so I thought the best option for the time being was to make sure there was nothing in this room I needed. Just to avoid retracing my steps. I couldn't afford to do that when my life was in danger.

At seeing a barred window giving a view of outside in the prison cell at the back of the room, I headed straight towards it and knelt on the bench underneath to look out of it. My eyes widened when I saw it was dark outside.

' _It's evening already?! How long was I unconscious for?!'_

However, I gaped when I spotted black metal railings and a platform pressed against the wall from the outside, immediately recognising it as the fire escape for the second floor.

' _Ah! The fire escapes are still there! They've just been blocked off!'_ My eyes drooped in dismay as I stared at the barred window, placing a hand around one of the iron bars and flinching; they were cold. _'But it looks like I can't access it from here. Which means it's unlikely I can access it from the other floors…'_

I was quick to climb down off the bench and leave the cell to continue my search, shaking my head out of annoyance.

' _I have a gut feeling the only way out of this building is by using the fire escape on the top floor._ _ **Just my luck**_ _…'_

I gave the rest of the room a quick glance over, and by the time I was back at the entrance I'd come up empty handed. I knew I was going to have to head to the other room, so I moved over to the lantern to collect it from the floor. But I froze at the sound of a woman cackling, and not the same one from a moment ago either. It was a different voice. And it was coming from the other end of the corridor.

' _There's someone else here?'_

My fear was quickly replaced with confusion at this realisation. As much as I wanted to believe that cackle belonged to the woman I had been fleeing from before, it was obvious it wasn't. And it was making me question everything I thought I knew about this floor already.

' _I thought there was only one resident on this floor. Was I wrong? Is there actually two of them?'_ I frowned when I remember the first woman's yells, and how she'd actually entered this floor. _'Wait a minute. That first woman entered through the same entrance I did. And she sounded angry about something. But that second woman has been quiet until now…'_

I gaped when a sudden thought struck me, a hand going to the mark on my cheek; it still hurt to touch, but it wasn't hurting as much now. _'Was that first woman like me? Is she a 'player' too?'_

I flinched at hearing dragging noises, prompting my gaze to raise to the door of the dungeon area.

' _That's not important right now. I should probably move to the other room before I'm found. And maybe investigate what's going on.'_

I grabbed the lantern and slowly opened the door, heading back out into the corridor while keeping an ear out for any more noises up ahead. Around halfway there, I pulled my t-shirt back over my nose in preparation for the smell, flinching again when I heard slamming and then something click. It didn't stop me from moving to the door, though the closer I got, the more I could feel my body trembling with each step. _I really didn't want to know what was hiding behind this door_.

I stopped before the door and pressed my ear against the wood, trying my best to listen out for any movement on the other side. I could hear faint footsteps moving around, but they sounded too far away for me to be concerned for the moment. I continued to listen until I thought I heard something heavy close, and then there was silence. When I was sure it was quiet, I reached out for the door handle and gently pulled the door open halfway, poking my head around the gap to glance inside and making sure my t-shirt stayed over my nose. Although it soon proved to be ineffective.

I closed my mouth tight to suppress the urge to retch when I was hit with another wave of that awful stench; the smell was definitely stronger in this room.

' _Ugh-!'_

But I did my best to ignore it, shifting my focus to the room's interior. There was a small passage that blocked off the rest of the room, with lighting coming from the doorway at the open corner of the wall. I opened the door a little wider and dared to step inside, slowly pulling it closed behind me to prevent any noise that could draw attention to my location. I took cautious steps towards the opening with the lantern still in hand, breathing heavily as a result of both fear and the overwhelming smell. Already my mind was conjuring up horrible images of what could possibly be on the other side of this wall. I had my suspicions, since the room's name was more than enough of a giveaway. But that horrid smell was suggesting there was something more to this room than what I was thinking…

' _Please don't let there be a dead body. Please don't let there be a dead body. Please don't let there be a dead body.'_

I paused at the corner and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in to prepare myself for whatever I was about to see. There was still silence in the room, so I assumed I was alone. But I also wanted to make sure that was true before I made any other decisions.

' _On the count of three, Lona.'_ I opened my eyes and pulled the lantern back, fully prepared to use it as a weapon if I needed to. _'One…_ _ **Two**_ _… Three!'_

I leaned my head around the wall to look at the rest of the room… and I froze when I laid eyes on it.

My suspicions had been proven right. There were medieval torture devices littering the room. The guillotine, the rack, the iron maiden; objects I immediately recognised from the history books I'd spent most of my school life reading. But that wasn't the most disturbing sight I was exposed to. The rack and the guillotine were covered with _fresh blood_ , including the basket in front of the latter where I assumed the severed heads went. The only object in that room that appeared to be clean was the iron maiden, which was closed.

I stumbled away from the wall with a hand over my mouth, my eyes wide. I felt I was now on the verge of being sick.

' _That smell… That was_ _ **blood**_ _!_ _ **I'm smelling blood**_ _!'_

I wanted to believe I was trapped in some kind of nightmare, that this wasn't real. But no matter how many times my eyes glanced around the room, I knew I couldn't fool myself. This was real. And I was ready to turn around and flee without a second thought.

' _I thought I could handle this. But I can't. I can't-!'_

I interrupted my thoughts when I focused on the top left corner of the room, my gaze catching sight of something locked away in wooden stocks commonly used as punishment in medieval times. Or rather… _someone_.

A woman with long and straight, black hair was slumped in the stocks with her head hanging. It was hard to tell if she was okay from where I was standing, and part of me couldn't help but wonder if she was the woman who had been yelling earlier. She had come into this room, hadn't she?

I put the lantern down on the floor and made my way over to her when she didn't move or make any noise, being mindful of where I was going so I didn't step in any blood. My gut was screaming for me to turn and run away like I wanted; however, my concern for the woman forced me onward. I was anti-social, sure, but I wasn't a monster.

When I reached her, the first thing I did was touch her closest wrist to feel for a pulse, letting out a quiet sigh the second I did.

' _She's still alive. Good. That means she's just unconscious.'_

The last thing I needed right now was a random dead body to add to the list of horrors I'd seen today.

I crouched before the stocks to get a better look at her face, only to gasp when I saw her right cheek. It was swollen and had the broken half of a heart marking, just like mine. The only difference was that the broken half on her cheek was the opposite of mine. My marking depicted the right half, whilst hers depicted the left.

' _That mark… So, she_ _ **is**_ _like me.'_ I frowned. _'But then does that mean… the woman yelling earlier_ _ **was her**_ _?'_

It was the only logical explanation I could think of. The way the mystery woman had entered the floor, and then to find this woman currently unconscious and trapped in the stocks… The two _had to_ be linked, right?

' _Wait.'_ I blinked out of realisation, my gaze locked with the woman's closed eyes. _'If_ _ **she**_ _was the one who was yelling, that would also mean she wasn't looking_ _ **for me**_ _. She was looking for the floor's resident. Which means I was never in any danger back then…'_

I smacked my hand against my forehead, groaning in frustration.

' _Oh, crud. I got worked up over nothing. And to think, I was_ _ **this close**_ _to actually dropping to my knees and praying for my life…'_

I stood up again and examined the stocks keeping the woman captive, spying the padlock that was keeping the two halves of the wood together.

' _It would be wrong of me to leave her here like this. The least I can do is let her out before I go any further…'_

I gave the 'torture chamber' a third look over, and eventually my attention was drawn to the metal hook hanging on the wall beside a wooden door. A ring of keys hung from it.

' _Aha.'_

Without thinking, I approached the hook and removed the keys, placing them in my palm to get a better look at them. There were only three keys on the ring; a long silver one, a small and thick black one with three teeth, and a large golden one with half of a heart symbol on it. As I started walking back to the stocks to try the keys in the padlock, however, I remembered the warning posted on the entrance to the second floor.

' _Don't steal from the Executioner.'_

I stopped before the padlock and looked down at the keys in my hand, furrowing my brow in thought.

' _This doesn't count as 'stealing', right?'_ But I was quick to shake my head to rid myself of the thought. _'No. I'm only borrowing it. I'll put them back when I'm done.'_

I chose to try the second key first since it looked small enough to be for a padlock. But just as I inserted the key and turned it (finding out it did, in fact, fit), I heard a loud creak come from behind me. I knew it wasn't from the door, as I could still see it closed in my peripheral vision. And the noise was too far to my left to have come from the other entrance to the room…

My back stiffened as my eyes immediately turned to the wall at hearing footsteps approaching me, where I spied a tall silhouette slowly growing in size the closer the noises got. By the time I willed my body to turn and prepare to run, I knew I was too late the second I felt someone pull me backwards by my jacket.

I screeched as I was forced to turn around when the person grabbed my closest wrist, my mouth staying open out of fright when I was face-to-face with a black hood and menacing green eyes staring down at me through its holes.

It was the Executioner.


End file.
